


So, Come On Home.

by HeliosHellion



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Family Member Death, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Love Wins, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pretending to date to impress family?, Rhys is trans btw, Slow Burn, Takes place right after Vaughn and Rhys start working at Helios, Vaughn's dad is dead and that's important so if your sensitive to. family death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26465962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeliosHellion/pseuds/HeliosHellion
Summary: When Vaughn and Rhys first start working up on Helios, Vaughn starts getting letters to visit his old family home. Rhys stays by his side, and Vaughn can't thank him enough for it.
Relationships: Rhys/Vaughn (Borderlands)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	So, Come On Home.

By the eighth or ninth letter left unopened on the table, Rhys starts to get suspicious.

It’s nothing sinister, Rhys knows that. The envelopes are too cutely decorated to be anything bad. He particularly enjoys the choice in puppy-dog stickers on the front of it. To be honest, Rhys is just as nosey as Vaughn in most circumstances, he’s just better at hiding it (Mostly,) so, these particular letters are quite the tease for him. Despite all that, he respects Vaughn’s privacy, they’re addressed to him, after all. 

They’re all sent from the same place, a planet called Dolos, which, if Rhys remembers his high school lesson on terrestrial planets correctly, is a neighbor to Promethea, much smaller and quaint in appearance to its bustling city-planet neighbor. He knows he’s heard of this place before, outside of mentions in school, it’s on the tip of his tongue. He takes a swig from the cheap beer can he grabbed from the fridge, and continues his investigation into these letters. Setting his drink down, he picks one of them up, the most recent one, and turns it over in his grasp. This is the first time Rhys actually took the time to try to read the name on the envelope, and after squinting his eyes real hard, and bringing it close to his face, written in such a dainty, eloquent, chicken-scratch cursive, reads ‘Valerie Moranis’. 

Rhys makes a funny noise, like he’s the detective in those novels everyone says are really good, but he never reads. He knows he’s heard that last name before, but he can’t quite put his finger on it at the moment. He feels a bit clueless, because of this. 

“Rhys, are you...Reading my mail?” Vaughn suddenly asks, making his grand reveal as he steps out of the bathroom. He has a funny look on his face, watching as Rhys has a piece of his mail in his grasp. Vaughn wipes his hands on his pant legs.

“Gah-” Rhys yelps, immediately dropping the letter back into the pile. He whips around, wearing a guilty look on his face. “Whaaaaaat? No.” He replies, obviously lying.

Then, Rhys realizes where he knows that last name from. His mouth goes agape, then he closes it, then he opens it again.

“You have a family?” He blurts out, then immediately regrets that word choice. 

“Uh?” Vaughn’s face scrunches up, like he just smelled something bad. He wants to tell Rhys, ‘ _ Yeah, of course I do, dummy, _ ’ but nothing comes out of his mouth.

“That you still talk to?” Rhys adds after an unnecessarily long pause, then, again, regrets that word choice, because it implies a lot. He cringes as Vaughn gives him the strangest of looks.

Vaughn joins Rhys’ side at the counter where Rhys has made the little pile of mail, and he lifts one of them. He refrains from thinking what the hell did Rhys mean by that, and he adjusts his glasses, and looks at the envelope with an unreadable expression, then drops it back down.

“Um,” He hums, as if he isn’t quite sure of the answer himself. After a moment, he lets out a breath that could almost be described as a sigh. “Yeah.” 

Rhys has lived with Vaughn since college, and he has never really heard of his family until now. That honestly weirds him out a bit, now that he thinks about it, but, Vaughn doesn’t really know about Rhys’ family, either. Neither of them really asked.

“And you’re receiving letters now because,” He holds onto the vowels of that sentence, waiting for Vaughn to finish it for him. Vaughn doesn’t, so Rhys just sounds a bit stupid. He gives Vaughn a strange look, and Vaughn gives him a funny one right back.

After a moment, Vaughn shrugs. “No clue,” He says. “I’m guessing they want me to visit for something.” 

Vaughn knows they do, but he doesn’t really want to face that reality. He keeps his gaze down on the counter, but after a moment, he looks up at Rhys. Something about how the light hits Rhys’ eyes makes Vaughn feel a certain way. 

Rhys looks at him expectantly. “Well? Read the letters, V-Star. I mean, you’ll probably get your answer if you do. Also, I’m just really, really curious about your family all of a sudden.” 

Rhys clumsily slides into the barstool right by the counter, and goes back to drinking from his beer can, now entirely room temperature. Vaughn, after a pause, chuckles. He’s always been a sucker, after all, so he agrees.

“Alright, fine,” He says, lifting up the most recent letter. “But only because you’re the one asking.” 

Vaughn carefully lifts the flap of the envelope, and doesn’t even rip the puppy sticker right in the middle of it. Something about it makes Rhys laugh, and Rhys’ laugh makes Vaughn laugh. Once their goofy chuckling dies down, Vaughn lifts the letter out, and unfolds it. He adjusts his glasses, and reads silently.

Rhys leans forward, then realizes he can’t read the handwriting at all. 

“What’s it say, dude?” He asks, hovering over Vaughn.

Vaughn reaches up and pushes his face away gently. “Quit hovering, dude, you’re distracting me!” He says, sounding way more annoyed than he means to be. 

Rhys leans back, and sits impatiently for Vaughn to finish. From the looks of the chicken-scratch, it’s a long letter, but lucky for Rhys, Vaughn is a very fast reader. 

‘ _ Dear Vaughn, _ ’ Vaughn’s possibly the only man alive that can read his mother’s handwriting. ‘ _ I hope this letter finds you in the best of spirits! I hope it finds you at all, actually. I’m not sure if my letters have been sending. You know me, always the anxious one. It’s been so long since you’ve visited, I can’t quite recall the last time I saw your face. I don’t mean to ramble. I wanted to invite you over for a couple days, perhaps longer. I would love to hear of your new job! Nica and Vivi and Vera are dying to hear from you! You don’t have to come, I don’t mean to intrude on your busy life, but it would be nice to see you again. You can call me anytime! -Mama’ _

Vaughn stands there for a moment, not looking at anything in particular. He pretends to be reading way longer than he should. After what feels like an eternity, he looks at Rhys.

“Yeah,” He says, dropping the letter back down on the counter, “Yeah. They want me to visit.” 

Listening to his somber tone, Rhys leans forward again, giving him a kind look. “Is that a...good thing?” 

“Uh, maybe?” Vaughn answers, “I don’t know.” 

He sounds confused, too confused for Rhys’ liking, so he continues.

“I mean...Is your family, like, cool?” 

“Sometimes?” Vaughn answers, and there’s a bite to his tone. “I don’t know! I don’t talk to them!” 

“Bro,” Rhys says, trying not to get offended, with his voice attempting to ease Vaughn down. “You alright?” 

Vaughn and him exchange a look. First, it’s a look of confusion, then anger, and then one of understanding, all in the span of a second or two. 

Vaughn lets out a long, long breath, and sits next to Rhys in the barstool by him. He fumbles around with his hands for a bit, unsure of what to really do with them. Rhys finds it adorable, in a weird way. He’s not sure why that was the first word to come to mind.

“Sorry, dude,” Vaughn apologizes, looking away for a moment in a guilty way. “Did not mean to snap at you like that.” 

Rhys gives him a gentle, playful shove. “Hey, don’t even worry about it, man. Family is, uh, tricky stuff. I’m assuming.” 

Vaughn smiles for a second, and then his expression goes back to something unreadable. “I guess, yeah. Uh, Valerie. That’s my mom.” His eyes pan back down to the letter, almost admiring her handwriting.

“Do you guys all have V names, or something?” Rhys asks in a joking manner, laughing to himself.

“Uh, yeah, actually.” Vaughn replies, and Rhys gives him an incredulous look. “My mom Valerie, my sister Veronica, and then I got two little sisters named Vera and Vivienne.” 

Rhys, after a moment, laughs. “That’s, like, adorable, man. Naming schemes. Wait, you’re a middle child?” He scoots closer, grinning in a stupid way, “That sounds like hell, but, I always wanted siblings, actually.” 

Vaughn raises a brow. “And I wish I was a single child.” He says, not really meaning it, and then contemplates something. “Actually, that makes a lot of sense,” 

“What?” Rhys snorts.

“You being a single child.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rhys laughs even more, inching closer to just push Vaughn out of his seat if he says the wrong thing.

Vaughn raises his hands up in a placating manner, “Nothing, nothing! Just, uh, thinking out loud!” 

“Okay, okay, whatever,” Rhys shakes his head, “Moving on- Tell me about your weird V-name family. Are you really the only guy?” 

Vaughn suddenly has a look on his face like he’s struggling to find the answer, which he is, honestly. This is a topic he really, really doesn’t want to get into.

“Oh, yeah. I guess I am.” He finally answers, like he doesn’t believe it himself. For some reason, Rhys doesn’t pry into that. Vaughn is thankful for that.

“That’s crazy.”

Then, they’re both silent for a while. The clock ticks a little bit louder, now that neither of them are speaking. Rhys has a lot of thoughts in his head, and by the looks of Vaughn’s face, so does he. 

“You know,” Rhys says, sliding his beer can over across to Vaughn, offering it to him, “If you do go, I can, y’know, come along?” 

Vaughn scrutinizes the beer can, scrunching his face up, and pushes it away. He decides to ignore Rhys for a moment. “I’m not drinking your room temp beer can, Rhys. I think you’d give me cooties, or something.” 

“Cooties?” Rhys says, mock-offended. “Might I remind you that we’re not in middle school anymore? My kindness, once again, is ignored. Aaaand, you didn’t answer my question.” 

Vaughn rolls his eyes, and then he’s back to being silent. It’s not that he doesn’t want Rhys to meet his family, well, that might just be it, actually. He doesn’t want Rhys to meet his family. 

He gets up from his seat, and makes his way to the fridge, deciding to get his own drink that isn’t tainted by Rhys’ spit. Something about Rhys’ eagerness makes Vaughn’s chest twist in all kinds of ways, and he isn’t sure if it’s pleasant or not. After a moment of him reaching down, and grabbing a drink, he returns to Rhys, closing the fridge with his heel. 

“I mean,” Vaughn cracks open his drink, “I dunno why you’d even want to meet my family. They’re not that interesting.” 

“Whaaaat?” Rhys gives him a funny look. He knows Vaughn’s got a lot of weird feelings about his family, but he continues pestering, “I just wanna figure out where you got your…” He gestures all around Vaughn in a joking way, “Short-ness from.” 

Vaughn, after a moment, actually laughs, and that makes Rhys feel better. 

“That wasn’t funny,” Vaughn replies, still clearly laughing. “Not funny at all, dude.” 

Rhys gives him a crooked grin, the kind that makes Vaughn’s heart beat just a bit faster. “I’m hilarious.” 

Vaughn makes his way back to his seat, and he spends a moment just looking off into nothing, and taking brief sips from his can. He almost yelps when he feels Rhys’ hand on his back. When he gives Rhys a look, Rhys has such a sincere look on his face, the kind that says, ‘ _ You’re fine. _ ’ and it makes him actually contemplate letting Rhys meet his family. 

Rhys can see the stress on Vaughn’s face, he can see it right in his eyes, and the way his brow twitches so slightly. He’s never been the most understanding guy, but for Vaughn, he’ll try. 

“Yeah, alright,” Vaughn says, giving Rhys a smile. “We can go visit my family. But I warned you. They’re really boring.” 

“Boring-er than you?” Rhys snorts, and then Vaughn elbows him. 

“Oh, shut up, before I kick you out.” Vaughn slides out of his seat, and Rhys gives him a look.

“I live here!” Rhys hollers.

“And you won’t for much longer if you keep being a jerk, dude!” Vaughn replies, waving him off. He checks his watch to make up a reason for having to leave, “I’ve got something to do, so, I’ll talk to you later, bro,” 

“Something to do? What do you even do?” Rhys asks, giving him a suspicious look, “You rarely do shit outside your job,” 

“It is a job thing!” Vaughn says, backing up. “Okay, bye,” 

Rhys watches Vaughn leave, still just as suspicious and confused, but he doesn’t do anything about it. If anything, he’s a little bit excited if that family visit follows through. Rhys can read Vaughn like an open book, and yet he barely knows a thing about his upbringing, so something like this is a perfect opportunity. Rhys won’t even acknowledge that if in Vaughn’s place, he’d shut down any ideas of visiting his parents. Rhys spends a couple seconds staring at Vaughn’s drink, still cold and abandoned, and thinks. 

Vaughn’s leg bounces up and down, up and down, up and down. He tries to steady it, with a strong grip on his knee, but it continues bouncing nervously, like it has a mind of its own. To get his mind off that, he looks up at the view before him, the large window displaying the cold, empty, scary, vastness of space. That doesn’t help him at all, and he’s certain his knee is bouncing even more. He curses quietly to himself, and looks back down at his lap, where one hand holds up his phone. It has been years since he last talked to his family, the last time he can remember, he was back in college. He shuts that memory down, because he knows why that meeting occurred, and he doesn’t have to think on it any further. To be honest, Vaughn never was close to his family, it just wasn’t for him. It’s strange, actually, how close-knit his sisters are, how his mother is, but he wasn’t like them. He still isn’t like them. He wonders if they realize that. He wonders if they secretly hate him because of it.  _ That _ specific paranoia has been in Vaughn’s head for a long time, but it’s a paranoia that affects everything he does, especially now on Helios. 

Trying not to get sidetracked, Vaughn returns his focus on his phone, staring down at the picture on it. It’s the only photo he has of him and them together. He’s a teenager in the photo, shorter and stubbier and softer looking. His older sister is like him, short and big, but she always wore the kinder face. He wonders how different she looks now. In the picture, she has a turtleneck, and large triangle-shaped earrings. His other sisters were so much younger in this specific photo, but Vaughn can’t quite remember how old. He puts them at four, or maybe six. Twins. His gaze goes to his mother next, and there she is wearing that worried look on her face, even as she smiles. He wonders if he got his stress from her, because it couldn’t have been from  _ him. _ Speaking of him, Vaughn keeps his thumb over his face. It’s stupid, Vaughn knows, but he does it.

After a moment, he contemplates something, and then takes the plunge. His mother answers immediately. 

“Hi, Mama,” Vaughn says, his voice quiet, even if he knows nobody is in his near vicinity.

“Vaughn!” She cries out, and he can hear the smile in her voice, “My baby! I was beginning to think you forgot about us,” She sadly laughs, and it makes Vaughn’s heart hurt a bit.

“Sorry, Mama. I just got really...Wrapped up in moving to Helios, starting a new job. Stressful stuff.” 

“Helios,” Valerie says, still astonished, “Such a beautiful place, yes? I would love to see the view up there.” 

“Oh, yeah...It’s really pretty, Mama.” Vaughn notices his leg stopped bouncing. Something about Valerie’s voice always calmed him like that. 

“Oh, oh, goodness, I got sidetracked. Did you get my letters? I sent many, I didn’t know if they were sen-”

“Yes, Mama,” Vaughn says, closing his eyes. “I got your letters. All of them. It was a bit overkill, actually.”

From her phone, Vaughn can hear his little sisters, and he presumes they’re arguing with each other, or maybe they’re just yelling for the sake of yelling.

“Oh, okay, good! Uhm, you know, we would love to have you here, baby. Everyone misses you, and it has been so long since you’ve visited.” She lets out a breath, “I think you’d enjoy it.”

“Uh, yeah, Mama. About that…” He pauses for a moment, eyelids squeezing together tightly. “Yeah, I’ll take you up on that. I miss you guys too, and...It’d be nice to see everyone again.” 

She makes a sound, so happy and excited, and Vaughn can hear her hand hit the table over and over again in an excited manner, “Oh, wonderful! You have no idea how happy that makes me, baby! Everyone will be so excited, you can tell me all about your new job!”

“You can ask me about that now, Mama, I mean, we’re talking right now.” Vaughn almost laughs at her excitement.

“Oh, I can, can’t I? Okay, baby, tell me all about your new job! Tell me if you’ve made any friends- Or if you’ve met anyone special,” Her tone gets a bit sly at that last part, like she’s gossiping. Vaughn rolls his eyes.

“Well, I’m an accountant. Junior! Accountant. Junior accountant. I, uh, do...things. Make financial...reports.” 

Valerie listens with such keen interest, like Vaughn isn’t stumbling over all of his words.

“You know, Nica is a teacher now!”

“Is she?” Vaughn asks. Last time he had a long conversation with Veronica, she was complaining about boy troubles.

“Yes! She teaches AP Statistics! All of my children are so smart, I’m so proud of you, Vaughn.” 

Vaughn’s silent for a moment, and he stands up. He begins to pace.

“Thanks, Mama.” He says, and he genuinely means it.

“So, tell me, tell me, have you got any little friends? Or maybe a special someone in your life? If not- Oh, I know this girl, sweetest girl, I think you’d-” 

Vaughn cuts her off almost automatically. It comes out of his mouth, like it dug its way out of his throat. “I have a boyfriend!”

That’s a lie, and Vaughn knows it. In his mind, he sees Rhys’ smile, and now he feels ashamed just thinking about it.

“Oh.” Valerie gasps, as if everything all of a sudden makes sense to her, “Oh! How wonderful! What’s his name? Tell me all about him!” 

Vaughn looks shocked, terrified even, that he would even say that. Suddenly, he regrets even calling his mother, or even thinking that he should visit. Suddenly, everything is wrong all over again. 

“Uh, I have to go, Mama.” He yelps, his speech fast and stressed, “My boss just walked in, I gotta do my job.”

Valerie sounds embarrassed as she says, “Oh, so sorry! Did not mean to take away from your work, baby. Be sure to text, so we can make plans! Oh, I’m so excited.” 

Vaughn hangs up, nearly cutting her off, and he almost drops his phone. Suddenly, he feels really, really sick. He begins to bite at a hangnail on his thumb, and ignores the pain that follows. The image of Rhys’ smile sticks in his head, and it makes his cheeks burn in a way he doesn’t want to acknowledge. 

And then, he finds himself back to his apartment, and when he looks at the clock, he realizes it has been hours since the phone call. 

Rhys is on the couch, and when he hears the door shut closed, he rolls off of it, making a funny sound as he hits the ground. 

“Oh, shit,” He groans, then immediately gets onto his feet, and when he looks at Vaughn, he looks concerned. Vaughn looks like death. “Shit, hey, dude! Wow, you look like trash.”

Vaughn’s mouth is held tightly together, too scared to open his mouth, like he’s scared all his teeth will fall out if he does. He puts his room key on the counter, and gives Rhys a nod.

Rhys vaults over the couch in a not-so-elegant way, his long legs are more like a spider than a ballerina, and he takes a moment to catch his bearings. “You doing alright? Did the guys up in management give you problems again?”

Vaughn shakes his head.

“Did you lose your phone?”

Vaughn shakes his head, and shows Rhys his phone.

“Did you lose, like, an important report, or whatever it is you do?”

Again, Vaughn shakes his head, and Rhys runs out of ideas.

“I told my mom we’re dating,” Vaughn suddenly blurts out, and then he cowers, like he’s afraid of the response Rhys will give him. “I’m sorry! It just came out.”

Rhys looks at him funny. He’s handling this a lot smoother than Vaughn is, from what Vaughn can tell. “That’s why you’re so freaked out? Dude, don’t even worry about it. Shit like that just happens.” 

Vaughn blinks. “Wait, you’re not mad? I would be, like, so angry.”

“Listen, I used to call the lunch ladies at school ‘Mom’. This? Same thing. Kind of.” 

“She was talking about setting me up with some girl she knows? And I just- completely shut down, said the first thing that came to mind!” 

“Ohhhhh,” Rhys says, like he just hit a grand realization, “Yeah. Man.” He rubs the back of his head, about to say something he’s sure he’s going to regret. “I’m really good at acting, so, uh, if you want to pretend we’re dating to get out of, uhhh, weird set-ups. I’m fine with that?” He winces, and his voice goes up in pitch.

Vaughn looks at him, wide-eyed and shocked. “You’re serious? You’re not fucking with me?”

Rhys fixes his hair, pushing the curls out of his eyes, which then immediately bounce back into his face, “No way, dude. You’re my bro, and bros help each other outta awkward situations.”

“You’re not mad.” Vaughn says, still a bit astonished.

“Nnnnope, dude. Can’t get mad at my one true wingman, can I?” 

Vaughn lets out a long, long, long sigh of relief, forcing it out of his lungs, and he slouches forward, almost hitting Rhys’ chest with his head. “Ohmygod, that’s a relief. I thought you were, like, going to get really mad, or something.” 

“Don’t worry about it, dude. Seriously.” Rhys offers a smile, which Vaughn doesn’t see. “Buuut, now that that’s outta the way, I’m going to bed.” 

“Oh, right. Uh. Me, too.” Vaughn says, lifting his head up. Now that he thinks about it, he feels like he could pass out.

Vaughn looks away as Rhys backs up, and pulls his shirt over his head, walking towards the bedroom. Rhys used to be a lot more paranoid about doing something like that, but he trusts Vaughn, but now that he thinks about it, suddenly he feels nervous all over again. They did just get out of a conversation about fake-dating, after all. He pushes that feeling down, and slips into the bedroom. Vaughn joins him shortly thereafter, and awkwardly, and silently, moves into the bed right across from Rhys’. He pretends to sleep, and finds himself listening to Rhys’ steady breathing like it’s a pleasant melody. He continues picking at his fingernails, and finds himself wishing he were closer to Rhys. He curses at himself for even contemplating that though, however, and he keeps his gaze up on the patterned ceiling.

And then, the visit is planned over texts. He’s texting his mother, but he knows Veronica is the one he’s actually talking to, actually making the plans. His mother has never been a good plan-maker. He doesn’t mention that, however, because neither is he. He feels strange texting them again, stranger than he should. They’re family, after all, and family shouldn’t feel weird to text, or call, but that’s how he feels. Strange, and like he’s talking to a bunch of strangers. They plan to make the trip during Mercenary Day break, when Rhys and Vaughn are allowed time to leave Helios without penalty. They make arrangements for a rental car to make their way from the spaceport over to the town they all reside in, (Rhys is the one driving, since Vaughn never learned,) and like that, the plans are finalized. Vaughn finds that everytime he talks about this, his fingers are digged into his leg. Rhys never asks when he sees him do it. 

Time moves faster then, after everything is finalized. Everything goes way faster, too fast for Vaughn’s liking, and then one day, it’s the day before they leave.

Rhys is shoving more than he can carry into his suitcase, having to drape his body onto it to squish it enough just to zip it closed, and he ignores the funny look Vaughn gives him as he does so. Meanwhile, Vaughn is sitting on the edge of his bed, clothes unpacked and scattered. Rhys gives one last tug, and his suitcase is entirely zipped up. 

“Nice idea to pack early, actually. Usually I just wait until the last minute,” Rhys snorts.

“Yeah, I know,” Vaughn replies, “That’s why I made you pack, dude.”

Rhys glances at Vaughn, and then moves his suitcase to the ground so he can sit on his bed. “Dude, are you alright? Normally, you’re like, super crazy about packing. You haven’t even started counting how many socks to pack, and that’s like, your favorite thing to do when packing.” 

“That’s  _ your  _ favorite thing to do, Rhys. I just like counting the exact number of socks to bring, a pair for each day, two extras in case they get wet, and they’re all categorized from shortest to highest, it’s not that hard!” 

Rhys gives him a blank stare. “Yeah, sure.” 

Vaughn sighs, and looks back down at the ground, his hands fumbling together. He doesn’t even notice when Rhys moves across the room to sit next to him.

“Alright, come on, dude. Talk to me.” Rhys says, patting Vaughn’s chest. “Bro-to-bro.” 

Vaughn gives him a look.

“Can I tell you something?” He says, biting his lip. 

“Yeah, man. Of course.” Rhys replies, and Vaughn sucks in a sharp breath.

The man Vaughn kept his thumb over, not wanting to face. Why he’s the only man  _ alive  _ that can read his Mother’s handwriting, how he’s the only man in the family now. He feels like he has to say it now, because if he doesn’t, then it won’t come out at all, and he wants to save his family the trouble of telling Rhys themselves. So, he braces himself, and opens his mouth.

“So, uh. Do you remember that week in college where I had to leave suddenly for a..Math expedition.” He looks away in a guilty way.

“Yeah, you came back real exhausted.” Rhys says, wondering where this is going. 

“Yeah, well, I didn’t go to a math expedition, I was at my Father’s funeral.” 

And then, everything goes quiet, and loud all at the same time. Rhys looks shocked, horrified, even. 

“My dad’s dead.” He reiterates.

“I’m so sorry, dude.” Rhys says in a way like he isn’t too sure of what to say. It’s apprehensive, nervous, uncharacteristically so.

“It’s fine, I’m over it.” Vaughn lies, “I’m just letting you know now.”

Rhys immediately puts a hand on Vaughn’s back, and Vaughn tenses up in response. 

“I had no idea, dude. You could’ve told me,” 

“Yeah, I know.” Vaughn replies, and he sounds so quiet, that it nearly breaks Rhys’ heart.

Rhys keeps his hand on Vaughn’s back for a moment, and then lets it drop.

“Uh, what about your dad?” Vaughn asks, looking up at Rhys. 

“My dad’s dead, too,” Rhys lies, and he doesn’t know why he does it. He doesn’t want to think about it, because suddenly a horrible, awful, guilty feeling sinks into his gut.

“Oh.” Is all Vaughn says, not having realized Rhys lied to him. He leans way back, and lets himself fall back onto the bed. “Yeah. I get it.” 

And then Rhys joins him, laying right next to him, speechless for a moment. 

“Do you think I can do this?” Vaughn asks suddenly, “I can do this, right?”

“Yeah, man. You got this,” Rhys says, offering a worried smile, “Besides, I’ll be right by you,” 

“Yeah.” Vaughn says, a bit quieter, eyes sliding shut. “Thanks, bro. That...Means a lot.” And he means that, he really does. Sometimes he doesn’t know what he’d do without Rhys.

“Of course, dude. Now, get to packing.” Rhys sits up and pats Vaughn’s leg as he stands up. “I’m turning in. Weeee have a big day tomorrow.” 

“You won’t get annoyed when I start counting socks?” Vaughn asks, and Rhys shakes his head.

“Nah, it’ll be like you’re counting sheep! Or something.” He rubs the back of his neck when Vaughn laughs. “Whatever.” 

The trip from Helios to Dolos starts in the hangar bay in the lower levels of Helios, where low-level employees such as Vaughn and Rhys shuffle around towards specified ships, all looking to get out for the holidays. Vaughn and Rhys suspect a lot of these faces won’t come back when they’re away on break for longer than Hyperion allows. It doesn’t bother either of them, or at least, they try not to let it bother them. Rhys is wearing a hooded flannel jacket, too big for his frame, and Vaughn is wearing a sweater, also too big for him, but he wears it to hide his big frame, rather than just not caring. On the ship, Rhys ruffles Vaughn’s hair, and it makes Vaughn’s cheeks burn in a certain kind of way, and for a moment, he isn’t too worried about this visit. 

The trip takes a couple hours, since ships like this don’t have the equipment for faster-than-faster-than-light space travel, which makes Rhys glad they left real early. Vaughn keeps his eyes on the window, watching the stars move past him like passing cars, and Rhys plays a game on his phone, (Which then, he complains about not bringing a phone charger when his phone hits 50% in the span of ten minutes, which Vaughn fixes by presenting him with the spare charger he brought for this specific reason,) and they stay like that for the rest of the trip there. By the time the ship lands at the spaceport, Vaughn is half asleep, and Rhys has to tap him multiple times to stir him awake, and as he does so, Vaughn makes a funny noise that Rhys finds hilarious. Off the ship, and with a newfound excitement, Rhys finds himself looking at almost everything new. From the pictures he looked at on his phone, Dolos is less advanced than his home of Eden-5, with phones the size of bricks, and people that wear clothes that look like vomit, and their carpets are filled with triangles and squares and zig-zags. Vaughn sneers at it, but Rhys finds it funny and interesting and cool all at the same time. When they’re out of the spaceport, the rental car is waiting for them, and Rhys has to admire its clunky, flamboyant design before hopping in. 

“Your planet is so, so weird, dude,” Rhys says, sitting in the driver’s seat. 

“Yeah, I know.” Vaughn says, rolling his eyes. 

“I mean that in the best way, though, like, wow, why wasn’t I born here?” 

The car is stick-shift, which works out, since that’s all Rhys knows how to drive, and Vaughn finds himself getting lost in the crackling radio, with his head leaned against the window. For a moment, he’s back to being a teenager, with braces too big for his mouth, and his baby sisters screaming in the backseat for no good reason. It makes him feel at home, and that makes him feel stressed, and scared, and all other emotions one could declare negative. Deep down, though, there’s a speck of good in those feelings, the kind that says ‘ _ You’re safe here, _ ’.

“Sooo, three sisters. Veronica is the older one,” Rhys tries to remember, so he doesn’t forget when they enter Vaughn’s home, “Then you’ve got two younger sisters, who are twins, and Vivi is the annoying one, and Vera is the quiet one.” 

“Actually, they’re both the annoying one. Vera’s just the sneaky one.” Vaughn corrects, and Rhys nods.

“C’mon, they can’t be that bad. Kids are great!” Rhys says, thinking back to the period of time he wanted to be a professional babysitter. 

“Oh, they are that bad. And they’re probably way worse now. They gotta be….Around ten, now? Nine? I don’t know.” 

“Listen, I bet I’ll get along great with them. You know I’m a people person, dude! It’s what I’m good at.”

“Yeah, sure,” Vaughn says, not entirely convinced, but the funny smirk on his face keeps Rhys from being entirely offended. 

“You wound me, Vaughn, you really do sometimes. Someday, I think I might assassinate you, or something, and you’d deserve it!” Rhys replies, making a not-so-careful right turn. 

Holding onto the car’s safety handle a little bit tighter, Vaughn gives him a look, saying, “You won’t get that chance if you drive any more recklessly, dude.” 

Rhys makes a high-pitched  _ ‘pfft’  _ sound, as if everything Vaughn is saying is preposterous, and makes another sharp turn, which makes Vaughn hold onto the safety handle way, way tighter. 

After a while, it all becomes way, way too familiar for Vaughn’s liking. Specific locations, turns, road names, it’s like an old scab getting reopened. He almost wants to tell Rhys to turn back around, go back to the spaceport, but he doesn’t. He bounces his leg, and picks at his nails, and chews his lip all the way back home. The city becomes more suburban, and Rhys drives through a sea of orange, yellow, and red leaves. Vaughn feels like he’s going to puke. He might just, actually, as the car makes a complete stop on the side of the road. Slowly, ever so slowly, he turns his head towards the window, and sees his house, his home, the same as always, with the lawn cut too short, and the tire-swing that broke when his dad died, and nobody ever got around to fixing it. When the anxiety overtakes him, he looks over at Rhys, who offers him such a kind smile, and suddenly it’s not so bad now. 

“C’mon, dude. I’ll even hold your hand.” Rhys says, then regrets it, since his tone sounds all too sincere.

“What?” Vaughn replies, scrunching his face up.

“Uh, joke.” Rhys looks away, and then gets out of the car to escape that situation. Vaughn is slow to join him, but he does after awhile. 

“So, just, uh. Be mindful,” Vaughn starts speaking like he was in the middle of a sentence, “My mom is super crazy about details, keeping things tidy,”

“So you got that from her?” Rhys says, pulling his suitcase out. “Good to know!” 

Vaughn glares at him as he pulls his own suitcase out, and closes the trunk of the car. 

And then they’re at the doorstep, and Vaughn is frozen. Rhys understands this, so he takes leadership, and knocks on the door. After that, he gives Vaughn a pat on the back. Immediately after knocking, there’s an unmistakable bark from the other side.

“Ohmygod, you have a dog?” Rhys says, suddenly excited. “You didn’t tell me?”

“She’s old.” Vaughn replies, “Really, really old. I...am surprised she is still alive.” 

There’s a hushing on the other side of the door, and then the sound of unlocking on top of unlocking. Vaughn remembers all the deadbolts. When the door opens, his gaze meets his Mother’s.

“Vaughn!” Valerie cries out, and then turns her head, “They’re here!”

She opens the screen door for the both of them, and Rhys holds it open as Vaughn ducks under him. Rhys shuts it behind him, and he has to crane his neck down real low to even meet Valerie’s gaze, and he finds that she is somehow shorter than Vaughn. It makes him want to cry from how tiny she is, like a little old kind grandma. Rhys feels like a giant once he notices the two twin girls also in the room, looking up at him with such curiosity. Vaughn embraces his mother, who holds him tighter than she should. 

“It’s so good to see you, dear,” She says, quiet and whisper-y. 

“You too, Mama.” Vaughn replies, hiding his face in her neck for a moment. 

She takes a deep breath and pulls away, looking back up at Rhys.

“And you! You’re-”

“Vaughn’s boyfriend.” Rhys answers for her, offering his hand. “Rhys Winz.” 

Instead of taking his hand, she pulls him into a gentle hug. “No need for such formalities, dear, it’s so good to meet you, Rhys!” 

Rhys stands there for a moment, and then crouches down to be able to get his arms around her in a non-awkward way. He wonders why Vaughn was so nervous about this visit, because he already loves his mom. 

“Hiiiiii,” A tiny voice sings, running up to the trio, followed by another voice, parroting her sister. 

Vaughn looks down at his baby sisters, much taller than he last saw them, now looking up at him with matching round glasses. 

“Hey, you little pests,” Vaughn says, offering an awkward smile. 

“You gotta beard,” Vivi says, pointing at her chin. Vaughn gives her a funny look.

“It’s a goatee, actually, but thanks for noticing.”

“I like your tall friend,” Vera says, looking up at Rhys with a funny fascination. 

Rhys looks down at the pair, and makes a funny noise. “Oh, crap- You two are tiny!” He crouches down real, real low to be eye-level with them. “What’s up?” 

Immediately, Vera sticks her hand in Rhys’ hair, pulling on the unstyled curls. “You’ve got long hair!” Vivi follows her sister, sticking her tiny hand in Rhys’ locks. 

“Ow, ow,” Rhys yelps, “Yes, I do, but refrain from touching it, I work hard on my hair!” 

“Vivi, Vera, no bothering our guest,” Valerie chides, putting her hands on both of their tiny heads. 

They both pull away from Rhys, and offer the same stupid grin on their faces. “You’re dating our brother,” Vivi says, giggling to herself. 

“Gross,” Vera covers her funny smile, and giggles loudly. 

Rhys’ face lights up red, and he awkwardly laughs. “I guess I am?” He says, a bit surprised at how...Right it sounds to his ears, even if it’s a lie. 

Vaughn makes an annoyed kind of sound, and shoos his sisters away, but they do not let up. Vera takes Rhys’ hand and tugs. “Can I put things in your hair? I got a lotta hair-clips.” 

Rhys snorts, standing up completely, and nearly lifting her up off the ground from how tight her grip is on his hand. “Uh, sure? Vaughn, you alright with this?” 

Vaughn looks down at his sisters, then up at Rhys, and shrugs. “It’s your funeral, Rhys. I warned you.” 

Immediately, Vivi also begins pulling on Rhys, who is dragged away from Valerie and Vaughn, who watch in very opposite reactions. 

“I’m so happy you’re here, Vaughn,” His mother says, smiling. Vaughn tries to reciprocate that smile, but fails. 

“I’m happy to be here, Mama.” He replies, and then watches as Audrey makes her reveal out from the kitchen, slow and withered and wrinkly. She’s a basset hound, and she makes an excited sound as she sees Vaughn. “Hi, Audrey,” He greets her, crouching down onto one knee and letting her take her time walking to him. He offers a hand, and she gently places her head against it, shutting her eyes and letting out a long breath of relief, like she’s been holding it in for a long, long time. Vaughn scratches her in that spot he knows she loves, and cracks a smile.

“She’s missed you,” Valerie says, and Vaughn looks down. “We all have.”

“I know, Mama.” Vaughn replies, standing back up. “Uh, where’s Veronica?” 

“Oh! She’s just making a quick stop at the store, she’ll be home, soon, though. Come, come, let me show you to your room. I hope you don’t mind staying in your old bedroom, dear.” 

Valerie grabs Rhys’ suitcase, and lifts it like it weighs nothing to her, and Vaughn grabs his own suitcase. He adjusts his glasses. “No, Mama. It’s no problem.” 

So, Valerie leads Vaughn back down memory lane, towards his bedroom, and Audrey follows suit, trying to keep up with her old favorite person, just excited to see him again. 

“Ow, ow, ow,” Rhys sits down in a chair too tiny for him as Vaughn’s sisters crowd him, pulling on his hair. “You guys really have the gentle touch, huh?” 

Vera sticks another hair clip into Rhys’ hair, and Vivi dips her nailpolish brush back into the container, dipping it for a moment before returning to painting Rhys’ nails. 

“You’re way cooler than Vaughn,” Vera says, “He’d never let us make him pretty, he’s way boring like that.” 

“C’mon, he’s not that bad,” Rhys says, smiling for a moment.

“You’re just saying that ‘cuz you’re dating him,” Vivi adds, sticking her tongue out in disgust. 

Rhys snorts, and then feels that strange feeling again. He puts that feeling down into his stomach, hoping to deal with that some other time. 

“So, like, what do you guys do around here? I never grew up in a house like this.” Rhys changes the topic, looking around the room. “I grew up in an apartment.” 

“Uh, we go to school.” Vera replies. “Oh, oh, I’m top of my class! I won- I won,” She begins to stutter over her words, “I won an award, for, uh, the math league! I represented our school!” She begins to hop, and then stops after feeling embarrassed. 

“Wow,” Rhys says, surprised. “You’re, like, five, and you’re smarter than me!” 

“Pbbbht,” Vivi blows a raspberry, and then actually blows on Rhys’ fingers to dry them faster, “We’re not five! We’re ten, stupid! You are dumb with numbers!” 

Rhys rolls his eyes, letting her enjoy her false victory, and concludes that everyone in Vaughn’s family is a numbers nerd. 

“Yeah, yeah. I just arrived and already I feel antagonized by a bunch of ten year olds.” 

Both of them giggle, and Rhys feels proud of himself for managing that. 

“Quit shaking your hand!” Suddenly Vivi says, starting on his right hand. 

Rhys’ face goes red and guilty, and he tries to steady his hand. “Sorry, that’s just a thing it does. I should just…” He places his palm flat on the small table right next to him, and Vivi seems okay with that. “Great color choice, though. I never knew blue could look so good on me.” 

“Thank you!” Vivi says, grinning. Rhys notices the braces on her smile, and the pink bands running through them. 

“What’s Vaughn been doing?” Vera asks, still sticking hair clips in random places. “Is he still all weird?” 

Rhys gives her a strange, curious look. “Weird is subjective,” He answers. 

“Weird! Like, uh,” Vera has to pause, trying to remember what Vaughn was like when they were both younger. “He likes really dumb things! Like, uh, a game with wizards, and dragons, and robots, I think? He had a friend named Zack that would dress up with him! It was weird.”

“You’re thinking of Bunkers and Badasses?” Rhys says, and then wonders if he can say that in front of a ten year old.

“Yeah! Yeah that’s it!”

“Listen, me and Vaughn are the kings of BAB,” Rhys says, as if it’s something to be insanely proud of. “Specifically me. I’m the DM.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Vivi says, confused, with her face scrunched up in a funny way to show that.

“Ugh. Kids.” Rhys rolls his eyes in a very extravagant way, to play up his disgust. “No regard for the classics.” 

“You’re weird.” Vera says, not feeling bad about saying that at all, “Oh, oh, your hair is done!” 

Just as she’s saying that, Vivi finishes touching up Rhys’ pinkie finger, and pulls away.

“And your hand! Hands.” 

Rhys, a little impressed, admires his fingers. “Wow, you guys work fast.”

Vera runs over to the dresser, grabbing a small hand mirror and running back to Rhys, shoving it into his face, very excited to show her work. “Look! Look!” 

Rhys slowly takes the mirror, and focuses his gaze on himself. Is his forehead really that big? It’s been awhile since his hair has been out of his face. He admires himself, and then scrutinizes his forehead a bit more.

“Wow, it looks great, Vera,” Rhys says, smiling. “And you did a great job, too, Vivi. Blue is  _ definitely  _ my color.”

Both of them offer Rhys wide grins, and they laugh together, happy that Rhys is happy. 

“Damn- Wait, shit. Wait! Dang!” He slaps his palm against his forehead, glad there aren’t any adults around to chide him for that mistake, “Ohmygod, ignore everything I just said.”

Their giggles turn into full on guffawing, and Rhys gives them a funny glare. 

“I was trying to say- I should just give up on haircare, and just hire you guys as my personal stylists,” Rhys says, trying to save himself from this embarrassing situation.

“You can’t hire us, we’re ten,” Vera says.

Rhys gives her a deadpan stare. “It’s a jo-” He lets out a puff of air. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter.” And like that, Vera and Vivi decide Rhys is a friend.

Vaughn drags a finger across his old shelf, and finds no dust comes off of it.

“I made sure no dust made its home in here,” Valerie says, patting her hands together. “I hope you don’t mind. I know how allergic you are to dust.” 

Vaughn laughs to himself, and he finds himself feeling more loved in that statement than any typical  _ ‘I love you,’ _ . “It’s fine, Mama. Thank you.” 

“I made sure not to mess with anything, though! Everything is as you left it before you left for college.” She says, “Oh, we’ll be having dinner once Nica returns. Your favorite.” She smiles in a way where her eyes crinkle a bit, and it’s in a new kind of way. She’s aged a lot recently. Vaughn gives her a look.

“Beef stew?” He asks, brow raised.

She nods, fumbling with her hands, unsure of what to do with them. “Yes! I thought it’d be a good welcome home gift.” 

Vaughn contemplates something, and then whips around. He wraps his arms around his mother in a more committed type of hug, and smiles. 

“Thanks, Mama. I missed you.” And this time, he really means it. 

Valerie takes a moment to regain herself, trying not to cry, and then she returns the hug in full. “Love you, dear.” 

After a moment of embracing each other, they pull away. They both adjust their glasses at the same time. 

“I’ll go set up for cooking,” Valerie says, clapping her hands together. “You just make yourself at home, okay?” 

“Alright, Mama.” Vaughn says, taking a seat on his old bed, listening to it creak underneath him. 

And then Valerie slides out of the room, and Audrey places her head on Vaughn’s knee, letting out a long sigh. Vaughn rubs her head.

“You know I’m more of a cat person, right?” He says, only half-meaning it. Audrey whimpers, and he snorts. “Daw, I don’t mean that.” 

He looks around his room, remembering every detail. Valerie didn’t lie, everything is as how he left it. The pictures on his desk draw his attention, one is of him and his father, on Vaughn’s tenth birthday, holding a baby Audrey, and the other is of him and Zack, dressed in matching fantasy costumes. He can’t quite remember what occasion that was for, but he does vividly remember how he backed out of his first kiss with Zack on that night. It makes him feel a strange kind of way, so he stops looking at it. 

“Audrey, do you know where Rhys is gonna sleep?” He says, “I just realized that we can’t...Share a bed.” His face heats up just at the thought. 

Audrey huffs, as she doesn’t know the answer because she is a dog, and Vaughn sighs.

“Yeah. Should’ve expected that.” 

He gently moves Audrey’s head off his knee and stands back up. 

“I guess I should go make sure those two demons didn’t rip him to shreds,” He says, looking to Audrey for a response. She licks her nose. That’s a good enough response for him.

He gives her head one last gentle pat and reluctantly leaves his room. He almost closes the door on Audrey, who’s slower than molasses as she follows him out, but he holds it open for her.

Immediately, he can hear his sisters squeal with excitement, and he feels like he’s back to his childhood. He remembers when they were first born, and for a couple years, he felt like the true middle child, forgotten and left behind. He doesn’t hate his sisters, he’s not sure he can hate them, but he certainly isn’t crazy about them like his mother and father were when they were born. Maybe that feeling never left him. He shakes that off, and looks up at the family photos left up on the wall, all un-dusty and straight. He stops at one, noticing it just so slightly out of place, just a little bit too crooked for his liking, so he looks up at it, and meets his own face, young and nerdy and awkward and lonely, the only photo that doesn’t belong in the sea of family photos. He doesn’t fix it. It just feels right like that. 

As for Rhys, Vaughn meets him in his sisters’ room, sitting in a chair too tiny for him, so his knees go all the way up to his chest in a comical way, it almost makes Vaughn laugh seeing it. They haven’t noticed him yet, so he just has a moment to look at Rhys, and Vivi and Vera so, so excited over him, like he’s some fancy new toy. Something about it makes Vaughn happy in one part of his head, and in the other, there’s a feeling that, if you were on the outside looking in, you could compare to jealousy, although Vaughn would never admit that. He knocks his knuckles against the doorframe, and Rhys is the first to whip his head around. Vaughn’s heart skips a beat, looking down at all the hair clips pulling Rhys’ curls from his eyes. It’s not everyday that Vaughn gets a clear look of Rhys’ eyes, big and brown and warm. Vaughn coughs into his fist, and exchanges a look with Rhys.

“Oh, hey, dude!” Rhys says, smiling. He raises his hand and wiggles his fingers, showing off the paint. “I found out that blue is my color,” 

Vaughn snorts, giving Rhys an incredulous look. “What?” He says.

“I painted his nails,” Vivi says, grinning up at Vaughn, as if it isn’t obvious from the blue paint smeared on her own hands. 

“Yeah, clearly,” He says, “Vera, I’m going to guess you did his hair, then.”

Vera nods, “I did! I like his hair.” 

From behind Vaughn, Audrey makes her way into the room. Rhys lights up when seeing her, in a way that reminds Vaughn of the grin on Vivi’s face.

“Oh, shit! Puppy!” Rhys says, moving from the seat onto his knees. He pats his thighs, and Audrey’s attention is captured, slowly approaching Rhys. When she’s close enough, Rhys puts his hands on her head, cupping her flabby cheeks. “Good girl, whossagoodgirl?” 

Vaughn doesn’t comment on Rhys cursing right in front of children, and lets him have his moment. Rhys appreciates that, because he really, really likes this senior citizen of a dog. 

“Hey, dude, so,” Vaughn rubs the back of his neck, “I have no idea where you’re going to sleep. I can give you my bed, and I can, I dunno, sleep on the floor?” 

Rhys gives him a funny look as he flops Audrey’s ears around in a comical way. “Dude, it’s your bed. I’ll take the floor.” 

Vaughn decides they can continue this conversation when they’re alone together. Vivi and Vera look too invested in their conversation. 

“Vivi and Vera said you were really into Bunkers and Badasses when you were younger,” Rhys says, giving Vaughn a lopsided smile.

“I mean, yeah? That’s obvious. You met me in college, Rhys. We had a Bunkers and Badasses club on campus.” 

Rhys stands up, and stumbles around a bit as sudden pins and needles dig into his legs. “Okay, but, you’ve gotta show me your costumes, bro. I showed you the pictures of my robot costume I made when I was ten!”

“Wasn’t it made of cardbo-”

“Yes. It was cardboard, and it was excellent.” 

Vaughn snorts, holding his hand up to his mouth, and then he says, “Yeah, it sure was, bro.” 

“You’re mean,” Rhys says, putting on a very, very serious tone as he adjusts the drawstrings on his jacket, “I really mean that,” 

And then, as they look at each other, they both end up laughing together. Vivi and Vera find the adults boring now, so they both leave. 

“I’m gonna go eat all the fruit snacks,” Vivi screams, and Vera chases her out. They almost bump right into Rhys, who has to quickly jump out of the way before a hit and run. 

And then, when they’re alone, Rhys gives him another smile. Something about it is different this time. Rhys can see Vaughn’s got his worried eyes, even if Vaughn doesn’t know he’s wearing them.

“You doing alright, bro?” He says, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. 

Vaughn lets out a sigh, and he ducks his head a bit. “Yeah, it’s just a bit overwhelming, y’know?” He replies, not trying to get super into this topic, because he knows if he starts talking, he won’t be able to stop. 

“That’ll pass, probably.” Rhys says, ruffling Vaughn’s hair gently. “You’ve got this.” 

“Thanks, Rhys,” Vaughn looks up at Rhys, and they both smile at each other. The distance between them is too close, and it makes Vaughn’s face go a bit red. He hopes it isn’t noticeable. 

Vaughn thanks god as he hears the sound of the front door, which gives him a chance to back away. Rhys looks towards the corridor, and he says, “Is that your other sister?”

“Yeah, probably,” Vaughn says, “We should go say hi, even if I really don’t want to.”

As he turns around, Rhys pats Vaughn on the back. “That’s the spirit, buddy.” 

Veronica, as Vaughn remembers her, is the typical older sister. When they were both teenagers, she was the annoyed older sister, crying over exes, and buying oversized earrings that never matched the clothes she wore. She’d read receipts just to do the math herself in her head, and she’d hide her glasses in her purse whenever she saw somebody she thought was cute. She was a heartbreaker, or maybe she always dated kinds of people who were heartbreakers, Vaughn isn’t too sure. There’s one memory, though, that he considers good. She drove him home from his first high school dance, and didn’t tell him to stop crying when he couldn’t hold it in anymore. It makes him feel funny thinking about it now. He remembers he didn’t go to any more dances after that.

Rhys ushers Vaughn out of the kids’ room, and out back into the living room, where a crowd has gathered. Veronica’s carrying more groceries than it appears she should be able to carry, and she’s doing it like it doesn’t weigh anything to her. She has a brick-sized phone on her shoulder, and it’s sandwiched between that, and her cheek. Vaughn almost doesn’t recognize her, because she looks like she belongs in Hyperion way more than Vaughn ever could, with heels that make her taller than him, and the kind of presence that says  _ ‘Don’t fuck with me’.  _ When she sees Vaughn and Rhys, she immediately goes to hang up the phone, despite the voice still speaking on the other end. 

“Oh, goodness, you are tall,” Veronica says to Rhys, looking up at him. “You’re Vaughn’s boyfriend?”

Rhys is caught off guard for a moment, like he forgot that was a thing. “Oh! Yeah, I am,” He says, stumbling over his words. “You’re Veronica? Vaughn told me about you.”

“Good things, I hope,” She replies, walking past him towards the kitchen. Vaughn is the first to follow her.

“Did you get everything?” Valerie asks, hands together as she watches Veronica put everything away. 

“Yup, Mama. I even threatened the guy about to take the last bag of potatoes.” Veronica replies, lifting said bag of potatoes. Judging by her tone, Vaughn thinks she really means,  _ ‘I used this as a blunt weapon,’  _

“Good, good!” Valerie gives her a smile, “I can always count on you, Nica.” 

“Mama told me you’re a...High school teacher now?” Vaughn asks after a moment. He leans his hand against the counter, and then accidentally knocks something over. 

Veronica turns her head to him, and her large triangle earrings dramatically sway. “Yep! It just seems like the thing I wanna do, and the kids certainly like me. Maybe it’s because I’m not your typical old and grouchy math teacher.” She pats her hair, making sure her drowning it in hairspray kept it in place at the store. “Also, I taught them how to cheat without getting caught,” She smirks, and Rhys swears she looks just like Vaughn with that look. 

“Wow,” Rhys laughs, “I wish you were my teacher. Eden-5 teachers are really, really boring.” 

Veronica stops, turning to face Rhys entirely. “Eden-5? Wow, that’s bogus.” 

“Bogus?” Rhys finds that the weirdest way to describe it, “C’mon, it’s not that bad.” 

“Oh, it totally is.” Veronica rolls her eyes, “Nobody likes Eden-5 except for people from Eden-5.”

“I.” Rhys pauses and thinks on it. His face drops, and he groans. “Yeah, you’re right.” 

Vaughn snorts, seeing that Veronica’s blunt criticism hasn’t changed a bit. He thinks he’s actually glad to see her, even if he’s a bit intimidated now.

“Sooo,” She shakes her head, flipping her hair back into place. “Hyperion, huh? You don’t really look like Hyperion material, no offense.”

Rhys glares, and huffs like his nails aren’t painted and his hair is filled with hair clips. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

Vaughn takes a step back, looking between Rhys and Veronica.

“You look too nice,” She says, “Vaughn, he makes sense, but you look baby-faced.” 

Vaughn raises a brow, trying to figure out what she means by that. 

“Yeah, but,” Rhys makes a ‘ _ psshh’  _ sound after a brief pause, “I’m not, like, assassinating corporate rivals, or something. I just do sales, man. But, a little more work, and I switch departments! I think I’d be way better at coding, anyways.” 

Veronica doesn’t look too interested in that, so Rhys shuts his mouth. “I guess,” She shrugs, turning back towards the counter to return to putting things away. After a moment of silence, she opens her mouth again. “So, how’d you guys meet?” 

“College,” Rhys says, taking a seat. He really hopes the questions stay this easy to answer, and so does Vaughn. “We were roommates.”

“And when’d you guys start dating? How’d  _ that _ conversation come up?” Veronica asks, giving Rhys the type of look he has a hard time describing. Rhys curses himself for jinxing it. 

Vaughn freezes just a bit, his eyes a bit wide. “Um.” He stutters, but then he gives Rhys a look. Rhys looks at him, and nods, giving him the type of expression that says,  _ ‘I got this.’ _ and then he feels better, because Rhys always has it covered.

“I asked him out,” Rhys says, putting on a confident face. “Back in college, I talked him into going to this party hosted by a couple of the football jocks. So, we’re inside, just hanging out, and this girl just starts hitting on me, I don’t even remember her name, and I’m just going along with it, because, hey, it’s a party, and I say something to Vaughn, and this girl insults him! Just, like, right to his face, calls him ugly, and I could do a lot better than hanging around a ‘dweeb like him’, so I just upfront told this chick to lay off! I mean, nobody bad mouths my bro and gets away with it. So, she turns up her nose and just walks off, and I turn to Vaughn, who looks like he’s about to start crying. I didn’t get it, because he’s gotten insulted before, with a lot meaner words, but for some reason, this particular time really messed with him. So, I pulled him out of the party, and there we are walking back to our dorm. I ask him, ‘Dude, what was up with that?’ and he just starts...Telling me about how she was right, and how I’m so much cooler than him, and I just stop him, like, ‘You’re the only one for me, dude,’ I told him, ‘I wouldn’t have it any other way.’” 

Vaughn can’t believe it. This isn’t some made-up story, this really did happen. His stomach twists in knots, and his chest is beating too hard. Everything feels a lot louder than it should be. 

“So, I asked him out after that, and he said yes. We’ve been inseparable ever since.” Rhys looks at Vaughn, and he smiles in a way that nearly makes Vaughn break right there. 

Vaughn remembers that night vividly. What really happened, the truth, is that Rhys just ruffled his hair, and said,  _ ‘I’m not leaving my favorite wingman behind,’  _ and that was the end of it. They got milkshakes together, and went back home. Vaughn doesn’t know how to react, or how to feel. Rhys speaks with such an honest tone, his face is comparable to the tomato his mother just began to cut into. The sound of the knife hitting the cutting board brings him back to reality, and he nods, agreeing with Rhys’ story. 

“That’s so nice,” Valerie says, still cutting even as she looks up at Rhys, giving him a misty-eyed smile. “I’m glad you have each other.”

“Me too, Ma’am.” Rhys replies, looking back at Vaughn again. “Don’t know what I’d do without him.” 

Rhys doesn’t know where he’s going with this, and he wants to punch himself in the face. He really just twisted a real event into being a fantasy, he really did just do that. He wouldn’t blame Vaughn if Vaughn just called him out right now. He feels like an asshole. That night, that party, he just told Vaughn’s family the  _ ‘What if I wasn’t such a coward,’  _ version of that story. He hates how truthful and sincere he sounds, because he can’t imagine what’s going through Vaughn’s mind right now. He feels like he fucked this up royally, like he always does. His right hand starts to shake, and he wraps his left hand around his wrist.

“I have to pee.” Vaughn just blurts out, and he immediately leaves.

Veronica makes a disgusted sound, and Valerie shakes her head while chuckling to herself. 

“Always so...direct,” She mumbles to herself, continuing her cooking, while Veronica does her best to help.

Rhys is out of his seat, and he’s following Vaughn in a near panicked state. He almost trips over his own legs, and has to catch himself by slamming his palm against the corridor wall, and as he does so, the vibration shakes Vaughn’s childhood photo back into place. He finds himself in Vaughn’s bedroom, where Vaughn meets his gaze, crouched on the floor with his suitcase open. Rhys coughs, trying to regain his cool, collected attitude, and he leans against the doorframe.

“Hey, dude,” He says, and internally pats himself on the back for not stuttering on his words.

“Oh, hey.” Vaughn says, looking up at him, and then back to his suitcase. “Nice, uh, story. You’re really good at selling things.”

“Yeah,” Rhys rubs the back of his head. He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, wincing. “Thanks. You alright?”

Vaughn smiles, definitely not fine, but he still tries to fake it like he is. “Oh, yeah. I’m just checking...my stuff.” 

Rhys has never felt this nervous, or awkward around Vaughn. He’s never felt this tense. It’s weirding him out, but he still tries to make it okay.

“Cool room,” He says, looking around. “Mind if I snoop around?”

Vaughn raises a brow, and then shrugs. “Go ahead, I guess. It’s pretty boring, actually, so, y’know.” 

Rhys instantly steps deeper into his room, and begins to do just what he said he was going to do, sticking his nose into every corner. He’s checking out the action figures still in their packaging, toy guns he remembers seeing the commercials for back home, the kinds of toy guns his mother never had enough money for. It makes him feel a certain kind of way, maybe a little bit jealous. Maybe this whole life makes Rhys a little bit jealous. He was raised in a cheap apartment, raised by an overworked mother and all kinds of different babysitters, (Rhys annoyed them all into quitting, hence the constant replacements,) so seeing this perfect family life, it makes Rhys wish he had something like it. He finds his gaze on the two pictures on Vaughn’s desk, one with a boy he doesn’t recognize, and one with a man he doesn’t recognize.

“Is that your dad?” He asks, picking up the picture frame with the man. He’s wearing a flannel, with large, thick glasses. He’s got a full beard, and looks like he could pick up a tree with just one arm. He has one hand on a young boy’s shoulder, and Rhys can instantly recognize the boy as Vaughn. He’s holding a puppy, one Rhys can guess is the senior citizen he met in the sisters’ room. 

Vaughn looks up at Rhys, and his brow furrows. He looks like he’s thinking long and hard, and then he answers, “Yeah, that’s him.”

“He looks badass, dude,” Rhys comments, and he really means it. 

“Yeah, well, I didn’t take after him that much.” Vaughn huffs. 

Rhys winces. “What? No way, dude. You look just like him. You even got the same nerdy glasses.” 

Vaughn doesn’t say anything, and Rhys doesn’t know what to do, so he puts the photo back down, not caring to put it back exactly how he found it. He picks up the other photo, of a young Vaughn and a boy with black hair, both dressed in costumes.

“Who’s this guy?” He asks, showing Vaughn the picture. Vaughn’s eyes go a bit wide.

“That’s Zack. He was my friend.” He replies, because saying ‘ _ He was my sort-of-boyfriend,’  _ is too long of a sentence, and it holds too much weight, the kind Vaughn doesn’t exactly want to carry right now.

“You’re rocking that wizard costume, dude,” Rhys says, admiring the fake beard Vaughn’s wearing in the picture. 

“Thanks.” Vaughn sighs, and his voice is emotionless. It makes Rhys’ stomach twist into painful, tight knots. He puts the picture down. 

Vaughn doesn’t know what Rhys is trying to do, and it’s kind of annoying him at this point. He doesn’t want to be angry, or annoyed, or pissed, but he is, and he doesn’t know how to deal with it outside of bottling it up until he explodes. He knows Rhys is stupid somethings, he knows this, and he isn’t trying to let it hurt him, but it is. If he were smarter, he’d tell Rhys this, tell Rhys how he feels, and they’d fix it together, but Vaughn isn’t smart, either, so he just sits there, digging through his suitcase for no reason, searching for absolutely nothing, and Rhys just stands there, feeling like he’s too tall for the room, and that he should just leave. 

Instead, he sits next to Vaughn, crossing his legs together. 

“Sorry for being a jackass,” He says, genuinely meaning it. “I’ll just shut up, if that helps.” 

Vaughn meets his gaze, and he realizes there is so much he wants to say, to tell Rhys. Instead, only one thing comes out of his mouth.

“You have a big forehead.” He says.

Rhys’ face scrunches up, like a sneeze he can’t quite get out, and he leans back quite a bit. “It’s not that big!” 

“It definitely is,” Vaughn replies, feeling proud of himself for that brilliant observation. For a moment, he doesn’t have to pretend everything is fine, because it feels like it really, really is. 

Rhys reaches up and gently shoves Vaughn in retaliation for this slight against him, “Oh my god, dude. I can’t believe you.” he laughs, because Vaughn is the only one that can insult him like that, and he won’t get entirely offended. “You- You’re the worst! The absolute worst.” 

Vaughn shoves him back, offering a smile. “I’m the only one who will put up with you and you know it.” 

Rhys makes a funny sound, opening his mouth and then closing it, because Vaughn is right about that. Rhys likes Vaughn, and Vaughn likes Rhys, and they put up with each other. Rhys throws an arm over Vaughn’s shoulder and pulls him into a half-hug, and Vaughn returns it in full, wrapping both arms around Rhys’ midriff. Both of them wish they could do more than this, but they both know they won’t, because they’re both stupid, stupid cowards. At least for this moment, they can enjoy each other’s warmth.

“I love you, dude,” Rhys says, and it hurts to say, because he wants to really mean it.

“I love you, too,” Vaughn replies, and it hurts him, too. 

“Gross!” Both Rhys and Vaughn twist their heads towards the door, where Vivi is poking her head in. Immediately, they pull away from each other, scooting away.

“Quit spying on me, you little barf bag!” Vaughn snaps, glaring at his sister. 

She instantly pulls her head away, laughing like a hyena. 

“Ugh.” Vaughn pushes his glasses up, and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Siblings.” 

Rhys’ face is red, embarrassed and flustered, but he stands back up onto his feet regardless. He offers a hand to Vaughn. “We...Should go check in on everyone, I guess.” 

Vaughn, after a moment, takes his hand. “Yeah, we should.” 

So, Rhys lifts Vaughn up, and Vaughn holds onto Rhys’ hand just a little bit tighter than he should. 

There’s a lot Rhys wants to say to Vaughn, and he hopes that he’ll be able to send that message to Vaughn without opening his mouth once. He wishes he could read minds. 

When they’re back in the kitchen, watching Valerie cook, they sit next to each other, and Rhys’ pinkie finger grazes Vaughn’s so gently, he’s sure Vaughn doesn’t notice, but he does. He doesn’t say anything about it. 

When they eat, Vaughn watches how Rhys interacts with his family, how he fits so perfectly within them like a puzzle piece. They laugh when he laughs, he thanks Valerie for her cooking, and she smiles so genuinely. Vaughn’s sisters all enjoy his company, he still has the hair clips all stuck in his hair, and his nails are still painted that baby blue he enjoys. He’s handsome when he smiles, and it makes Vaughn wishes they weren’t pretending. He wants everything to be real, but he’s too scared to make it so. They’re friends, after all, and friends don’t fall in love with each other. He learned that from Zach, and he’s not going to let go of that lesson, but, god, is he a rule-breaker. 

“What about your parents, Rhys?” Valerie asks, and Vaughn’s taken out of his trance. He looks up at Rhys, who ponders that question for a bit.

“My mom’s name is Barbara, Barbara Strongfork,” Rhys says, scratching his ear. “She’s had a lotta jobs,” He can’t quite recall them all, his mother was so, so tired all the time. “I haven’t really talked to her in a bit, but I think she’s doing alright.” He’s quiet for a moment, and then laughs. “I was a really, really annoying kid, actually. No idea how she put up with me sometimes, but I gotta respect her for that, I really do.” 

When his father left, all Rhys had was his mom, and vice versa. His mother would be working 24/7, and Rhys would be waiting for her in their tiny little apartment, just right for an infant, but too small for a child. He remembers when he broke his right arm, and he remembers her being the only person to sign it.  _ ‘Mom’  _ it said, with a heart around it. He remembers when his mom first called him by his name, and the ecstatic joy that ran through him when she did. She messed up, of course, but she tried, and that’s how it always was with her. She tried. That’s more he can say for Samuel Winz. 

“That’s about it, actually,” Rhys says, shrugging. “I’ve got a pretty boring upbringing, actually.” 

Rhys doesn’t bring up his father, and neither does Valerie, because Vaughn gives her the type of look that tells her she shouldn’t.

“Well, I’d have to thank your mother for making a boy as sweet as you,” Valerie says, giving him a sweet smile.

“Thanks, Ma’am.” Rhys replies, his mouth now full of potato. It makes her laugh. It makes all of them laugh.

“You know,” Veronica begins, swallowing her stew down, “Vaughn used to do theater.”

Vaughn turns pale as a ghost, and he gives Veronica a murderous kind of look. Rhys doesn’t notice it, and is instantly intrigued.

“What? No way.” He says, totally not believing it. “Vaughn? He’s not a theater guy!” 

“Oh, he totally is,” Veronica flashes a grin. Vaughn can’t tell if she’s being kind, or malicious. “You’ve never heard him sing?” 

“Vaughn, you sing?” Rhys turns his head to Vaughn, who looks like he’s about to puke.

“You’ve heard me do karaoke! We do karaoke together!” Vaughn answers, trying not to sound too snappy.

“That doesn’t count,” Rhys takes a sip of his drink, homemade tea. “That’s like….Drunk singing. Totally different from real singing.” 

“It’s not different at all!” Vaughn hides his face. “I don’t sing anymore. Not for real.” 

“He had a lovely voice,” Valerie says, “I have a recording. I’d love to show you.”

Vaughn moves his hands out of the way, and gives his mother a cold stare. “Mama, do not show Rhys that! God.” 

“Sorry, sorry,” Valerie says, lifting her hand in a placating manner. “I kid, I kid.”

Vera and Vivi giggle at Vaughn’s misery, and Vaughn rests his chin in his palm, letting out a long sigh that sounds a lot like Audrey. 

“Rhys,” Vivi kicks her feet because they’re too short to reach the floor, “Why does your hand shake so much?” 

Rhys immediately sets his spoon down, realizing she had been watching his hand. He holds it in his left, and gives her a look. Vaughn looks down at Rhys’ hands, fingers nervously twitching. 

“I, uh,” Rhys’ eyes dart around, like he’s looking for an answer. “Excitement?” 

Vaughn almost takes a chance and puts his hand over Rhys’. He doesn’t do this.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to ask dumb questions?” Vaughn asks, putting on his mean big brother voice. He sneers in Vivi’s direction, and she shuffles in her seat.

“Sorry,” Vivi says, and neither of them can tell if it’s genuine or not. It’s hard to tell with kids.

“Nah, no, it’s fine.” Rhys waves her off, and he wiggles the fingers on his left hand, showing them off. “That’s why I’m a leftie!” 

“I know a girl in class that’s a leftie.” Vera says, “She has scissors and everything.” 

Rhys and Vaughn are now both embarrassed. 

“Vera, Vivienne, why don’t you go make sure Audrey ate all of her food?” Valerie asks in her sweet voice. 

“Yes, Mama.” Vera says, tugging on her sister’s sleeve. They both depart the dinner table.

After a moment of silence, Valerie glances in Rhys’ direction. “Terribly sorry for that, dear. They don’t get much interaction with people outside their school.” 

“Oh, pssh, it’s totally cool. I used to ask all sorts of questions when I was their age.” Rhys laughs it off, because that’s what he taught himself to do. “It’s a kid thing.” 

Vaughn doesn’t look at Rhys as he places a hand on Rhys’ arm in an attempt to help. He doesn’t know why he does it. Rhys looks at him and smiles, but he isn’t sure Vaughn sees it. 

“Regardless, they should know better,” Valerie stands up, lifting up her empty bowl. “I taught all my kids that, if it doesn’t concern them, don’t stick their nose in it.” She pauses, and then wears a familiar smirk. “They just eavesdrop, isn’t that right, Vaughn?”

“Yeah, Mama.” Vaughn says, looking up at her. “That actually serves well up in Hyperion, believe it or not.” 

Rhys snorts and puts a hand on Vaughn’s head. “Is that where you got that from? I swear, Vaughn, you’re scary sometimes. I’m supposed to be the info-guy, and here this guy comes with his filing cabinet filled with blackmail.”

Veronica laughs into her glass before taking a sip, and Valerie offers a smile.

“Good boy.” She says, giving Vaughn a nod. “He’s always been smart.” 

Vaughn smiles for a moment. 

“You’re right about that. I don’t even feel bad saying he helped me cheat on some of my college tests.” Rhys says, completely unashamed. Vaughn elbows him.

“He once got in trouble for selling cheat-sheets at school,” Veronica says. “When Mama and Papa found out, they yelled at him for getting caught.” 

Vaughn adjusts his glasses and rolls his eyes. “I was, like, twelve, alright? God forbid I suck at hiding things in my bookbag.” 

“That’s why we taught you how to do it better.” Valerie says, dunking her bowl into the sink. “Advertising your cheating methods isn’t going to get you anywhere, baby.” 

Rhys laughs, because he’s really starting to see the family resemblance now. It’s a family full of rulebreakers. 

“You guys are great,” He says, grinning. 

“Thank you, dear. Now, shoo, shoo.” She says, waving her hands to ward them all away. “I have to clean, and I hate it when people ask to help.” 

Veronica is the first out of her seat. She finishes downing the last bit of stew and quickly hands it off to her mother. “I’ll be in my room,” She says, and dips out of the kitchen rather quickly. 

Vaughn’s the second one out of his seat, and he pushes his chair in. He stacks his sisters’ empty bowls along with his and Rhys’. Valerie gives him a look, and he smirks, saying, “I didn’t ask, did I?” 

She huffs in a dramatic sort of way, but gently pats Vaughn on the back afterwards. “Thank you, baby.” 

Rhys follows Vaughn out of the kitchen, since he’d feel pretty awkward to hang behind as Valerie cleans. Vaughn’s mother really knows how to cook, and because of that, Rhys feels like he’s ready to pass out. 

“I like your family,” He says.

Vaughn snorts, opening the door to his room, where Audrey is waiting to be let in. Rhys has to step over her before he can get in, and he stumbles a bit, bumping into Vaughn. His hand grazes Vaughn’s side, and it makes Vaughn want to freeze. Regardless, they carry on. Rhys regains his composure, standing up straight, and shuts the door behind them. They both look at the bed, and then back at each other.

“I can take the floor,” They both say in tandem, and then stare at each other in disbelief. “No, I can,” They say again, in tandem. They both sigh.

“No man, it’s your bed,” Rhys says, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. 

“Dude, it’s totally fine.” Vaughn replies. “The floor isn’t that bad.”

Rhys gives him a look of skepticism, and he tilts his head to the side. He looks at the bed, seems to consider something, and speaks.

“You know, we could both fit on there.” He says, knowing he could be overstepping his boundaries.

Vaughn gives him a wide-eyed look. “What? No we can’t.” 

And then, Rhys walks it back. He won’t mention the time they actually did share a bed once, because it would involve revisiting the cereal incident, and the less said about that, the better. Instead, he just nods. “Yeah, you’re probably right. How about we rock-paper-scissors over it?” 

Vaughn considers this, and holds up his fist. “You’re on,” He says, in a totally different kind of tone. It sounds more lighthearted, the kind of tone Rhys can get behind. 

“That’s the spirit, buddy.” He replies, holding up his own fist, praying that he ends up winning.

He doesn’t, and he swears Vaughn cheated, (How does one cheat at rock-paper-scissors?) but Vaughn just laughs him off. Both of their faces are red, still warm from the suggestion of sharing their spaces. The suggestion of the intimacy that would imply. What are they thinking? It wouldn’t mean anything. Just like how it doesn’t mean anything as Rhys pulls his jacket and shirt off in full view. Vaughn looks away for that. He values Rhys’ privacy, even if Rhys himself doesn’t care. Rhys sleeps on Vaughn’s rug, right next to the bed, curled in on himself, and Audrey curls right up against him. It’s a sight that makes Vaughn feel a certain way, as he lays awake. He’s always been an insomniac. He falls asleep eventually, he’s not sure when, but he does. 

Rhys dreams about his old life, the young kid back on Eden-5 with big dreams, and tiny little business cards. It’s one of those dreams where he knows he’s dreaming, but unable to do anything about it, a bit like a self-aware puppet. He remembers the night before he headed off for college, when he broke his father’s nose. He doesn’t regret it, because his mother never cries, and he won’t forgive his father for doing that to her. His father screamed, his mother screamed, and he screamed, and then he left. When he was a child, he used to think his father was a hotshot, a big deal he could brag about to his friends, telling the tale of his absent father who had a clear and obvious reason for being absent. Rhys didn’t know that reason, actually. He knows the truth now, though, he supposes it comes with age. It almost makes him wish he didn’t have his father’s last name, because he never was the son Samuel wanted. He wasn’t the daughter Samuel wanted, either. If Rhys had his way, Samuel would be dead. Really, really dead, but the world doesn’t work like that. His mother told him he was going to be a superstar someday, a name people will remember, and god, Rhys isn’t going to disappoint her. He knows Samuel’s not ever going to forget the name. He made sure of it. 

Whatever. None of this really matters anymore, because Rhys is off that planet. He wonders if he should call his mom, at least. 

Vaughn wakes up expecting to see Helios walls, and when he doesn’t, he flops back down onto the bed and sighs, holding a hand over his eyes. Back in his own bedroom, surrounded by everything from his teens that would make the current him die from embarrassment if he looked any closer. He rolls over, and,  _ fuck him,  _ he rolls off the edge. He lands on Rhys, and he instantly regrets his entire life up until this moment. Letting out a yelp as he hits Rhys, Rhys wakes up while letting out a high-pitched howl. When Rhys opens his eyes, he meets Vaughn’s gaze, and he sees how close their faces are. He can’t help himself from yawning right in Vaughn’s face. 

“Good morning?” He whispers, trying to blink away the sleep from his eyes. 

Vaughn pulls away from Rhys like he burned his hand, scared and cowardly. “Oh, god, sorry dude.” He replies, and then yawns because of Rhys. 

Audrey, who’s still snuggled up to Rhys, lets out a hmph, lifting her head up. 

“Good doggy.” Rhys says, turning over to put a hand on her head, trying to ease her worried brow. He almost giggles at how squishy she is, with all of those wrinkles. 

After a moment, Rhys turns back to Vaughn, who’s still recovering from that tumble. “Is it morning? I’m...used to Helios time.” 

Vaughn rubs his eyes and checks his phone, the light of it nearly blinding him. He grimaces at the near perfect five o’clock staring at him. “Ow. Ow. Ow, okay. Yeah, it’s morning.”

Rhys snorts, and then realizes what Vaughn even said. He rubs his face with both hands. “My back is gonna kill me.” 

Vaughn gives him a look, like he’s confused for a moment, and then he shrugs. “You lost, bro. You lose, you lose.” 

Rhys launches a hand out, waving it aimlessly in an attempt to smack Vaughn. Vaughn can only laugh at the attempt, and he gently smacks Rhys’ hand away. “Nice try,” He says. 

Rhys’ hair is all kinds of messed up, and it looks sort of silly. Vaughn’s about to comment on it, but then Rhys stands up. In an instant, the silly appearance of it all completely disappears, and Vaughn is suddenly very, very interested. It’s so easy for Rhys’ lanky appearance to look downright comedic in places, the way he stumbles over himself, the way he almost hits his head on certain doorframes, but for some odd reason, all of that doesn’t come to mind in this moment. Rhys takes a deep breath through his chest, and exhales through his nose, and the way his back arches in a subtle way, it makes Vaughn’s throat go dry. He feels dirty because of it, like he should be looking away, but he doesn’t. He’s not sure if Rhys notices. He prays he doesn’t.

Rhys pulls on a shirt, a button up with stripes, and he leaves a couple of the top buttons undone. 

Vaughn wonders if Rhys knows how attractive he really is. He tells himself he’s just an observer, like, anyone can see that Rhys is attractive, right? It’s not that serious. 

“Dude, I’m like, really hungry.” Rhys says, patting his stomach. 

Vaughn blinks, and then he shakes his head like he just woke up from a trance. “Uh, yeah, there’s food. In the kitchen. Pantry.” He coughs. “I’ll meet you there, I have to...Get dressed.”

Rhys gives him a funny look, but nods. “Yeah, sure, buddy.” 

And when Rhys leaves, Vaughn lets out a long, heavy sigh of relief. He leans his head back, stares up at the ceiling, and curses at himself.

He can’t remember when the feeling first crept into his chest, he’s not sure if there was a specific, sudden moment where he realized he loved Rhys. He curses at the movies for lying to him, telling him he’d know, telling him there’d be that perfect, slow-mo moment of realizing he found his soul-mate. Maybe this is just how friends feel, Vaughn’s never had many friends. Maybe he’s just crazy. He looks up at his desk, and stares at the photo of him and Zach, hoping it’ll tell him something, anything. It doesn’t, because it’s just a goddamn photo. 

Rhys is microwaving leftovers in a microwave that looks like it belongs in a museum. He watches it spin, leaning in a bit too close to the screen. When Veronica walks into the room, her feet creak against the wooden flooring, and it makes Rhys’ heart skip a beat. He lifts his head up, nearly hits it against the microwave, and looks at her, eyes wide. He runs a hand through his hair in an attempt to look cool.

“Oh, shit, hey, Veronica.” He says. She gives him a weird look.

“Wow, you’re up early. I’m always the first one awake.” She says. When she walks, it’s on her toes. Rhys gets a good look at her, and he can see Vaughn in her face shape, round and square at the same time. She goes to the coffee maker, just as archaic as the microwave. 

“Oh, yeah. Early bird,” He replies. “I, uh….Vaughn landed on me, and woke me up.” 

Veronica snorts, because she can believe it. “Well, good morning, I guess.”

Once the coffee starts brewing, she looks up at Rhys.

“Can I ask you something? I’m probably gonna offend you, but I just gotta ask.” 

Rhys’ face scrunches up, and his nostrils flare. His arms fold across his chest and he raises a brow. “What is it?” He asks.

She looks up at nothing and clicks her tongue as she tries to come up with the right words. She holds her hand up, gently swaying it as she goes through each possible wording she could go with, and then she looks at him. “I said you didn’t really look like Hyperion, but I guess looks are deceiving.” She scrunches her face up for a moment, casting her gaze down to the ground. “I just gotta know, what are your intentions with my brother?” 

Rhys’ face twists even more, and he tilts his head. He grimaces. “What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t have any ‘intentions’.” He makes a show of quoting that word with his fingers. 

“I mean,” She looks back up at him, “You’ve gotta know how corporations work up there, right? Everyone knows, nobody’s gonna forget what happened to Promethea. I’m just saying, my brother is…” She sighs, “He’s a follower, alright? The sort of guy to follow someone off a bridge. I just don’t want him to get used in order to...I don’t know. Get you higher up the corporate ladder. Am I making sense?” 

There’s a part of Rhys that thinks, ‘ _ Yes, you do make sense,’  _ but the other part of him wants to throw up his arms and ask her where she gets off. The insinuation that he’d ever use Vaughn pushes him to the angered response, rather than the collected one. 

“Listen, what gives you the right to speak about me and Vaughn? I mean, you just met me, like, yesterday! You don’t know a thing, lady. Vaughn is my friend. I get you think everyone in a corporation is out for themselves, but that’s not me.”

She gives him a strange look, and raises her arms up. “Alright, alright, I get it. You know I have to ask these things, right? I look out for my own.” 

“You don’t have to ask anything, you just gotta use, I don’t know, your eyes?” Rhys spitefully retorts. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.” 

Veronica, unbeknownst to Rhys, has been using her eyes. She knows they aren’t really dating, but what she does see is her brother head-over-heels for Rhys. She doesn’t know what to expect from Rhys.

“Fine, alright, thank you,” Veronica says, huffing. She turns back to the coffee pot. “That’s all I wanted to hear.” 

Rhys wants to continue being angry, but it fizzles out prematurely. Maybe it’s because he really, really doesn’t want to fuck things up with Vaughn’s family. He turns back to his microwaved leftovers, realizing they’ve been done heating up for awhile. 

When he eats, he realizes the middle of the bowl is still cold, but he eats it regardless. 

Vaughn passes by Veronica when he steps into the kitchen, and the two share a silent greeting. As she leaves, he waves at Rhys.

“Hey, Rhys.” He says, and Rhys nods at him, mouth full.

“Hey,” He says, pretending he’s fine. “Your microwave sucks.” 

“That’s Dolos for you,” Vaughn says, approaching the coffee pot, with just enough in it for him. “I was raised here, and I’m still freaked out by how outdated the tech is here. It makes me miss Helios.”

“Yeah, this is, like, seriously horrible.” Rhys looks back at the cursed microwave, glaring in its direction. “Hey, you think we should head out?” 

Vaughn pours his cup of coffee and gives Rhys a weird look. “What?”

“I mean, like, drive around town. You can tell me about all the shit you recognize.” Rhys says, running a hand through his hair. “C’mon, you can’t tell me you don’t wanna revisit your old life.” 

“Oh, I certainly can, actually.” Vaughn fixes his glasses. “Besides, this town blows.” 

“Ugh,” Rhys groans, and it catches Vaughn off guard. Rhys holds his head in his hands for a moment, and then drags his fingers down his face. “Dude, you’ve gotta stop. Yeah, you may think it sucks, but, like, it’s about the experience, right? Hanging out with a friend? Hanging with me? You don’t have to tell me all about your town, or whatever, I just want to hang out with you.”

“And we’re hanging out right now?” Vaughn looks around the kitchen, and then back at Rhys, who only looks more annoyed.

“I know you’re just playing dumb, dude,” Rhys says, “Come on. I want to look around, and it’d be better with you. Nobody likes sight-seeing alone, y’know?”

There’s an honesty to Rhys’ tone, the kind that really gets to Vaughn. He’s been so adamant on shutting down any thoughts about his old life, he didn’t even think Rhys might just want to be a part of his life, a part of him. It makes him feel something in his chest, all hollow yet full all at the same time. It’s a raw kind of feeling. 

“Oh.” Is all he says. “Okay.” 

Rhys gives him another type of look, like he’s expecting something. “So?” 

“Yeah.” He sets his cup down. “Yeah, I’d like that. Sorry.”

“That’s more like it,” Rhys says, finally letting a smile spread on his face. “C’mon, it’ll be fun.”

_ Everything is fun with you,  _ Vaughn wants to say, but as he opens his mouth, nothing comes out. 

Vaughn abandons his coffee cup on the counter, Rhys abandons his empty bowl, (Which, Vaughn very quickly slides it into the sink.) and they both get their shoes on. Vaughn doesn’t think to tell anybody, and he’s sure he doesn’t have to. He follows Rhys out the door, who’s pulling his flannel jacket over his shirt as he stumbles out the door, and he watches the excitement in Rhys’ eyes as he tries to throw the rental keys into the air and catch them. He barely succeeds, and they both laugh about it. Immediately, Vaughn feels okay, because he’s with Rhys. The sun is just barely coming up as they both jump into the rental car, and as Rhys turns the key, he gives Vaughn a certain kind of look, the kind of look that makes Vaughn’s throat go dry, and his chest tighten. It makes him imagine his high school years, that this was the type of life he should’ve been having back then, but he thinks he’s okay with making up for lost time now. When Rhys drives through the road towards town, Vaughn watches the leaves they drive through, the waves that they create, and he almost misses this sort of life. It’s the sort of experience you don’t get on Helios. 

Vaughn watches the sunrise through the car window, and he feels something change within him. In that moment, he takes a chance.

“Hey, can I tell you something?” He says. He turns his head towards Rhys, who gives him a quick glance. 

“Of course, bro,” He says. “What’s on your mind?” 

“So,” Vaughn bites at a hangnail, regardless if it hurts or not. “You remember that picture of me and that other kid?”

“Yeah, you were dressed up,” Rhys says. 

“That was me and my friend Zach. I met him in camp one year, and after that, we were inseparable…” He gets a little misty-eyed at the thought. He doesn’t mention the looks they’d give each other, the way they’d hold each other’s hands under the table. “We kind of drifted off once we were teenagers,” And he doesn’t mention the heartbreak, the reason he doesn’t go to dances. “But I loved him.” 

“Oh.” Rhys looks at him, and he looks at Rhys. Rhys takes a chance, saying, “Kind of like us, then?” 

Vaughn’s heart threatens to dig its way out of his throat in a violent sort of way, but he looks at Rhys with that same misty-eyed look and he says, “Yeah. Like us.” 

Neither of them know what that means. Neither of them are going to try to understand it. Vaughn doesn’t want to ruin what he has. Rhys doesn’t want to lose what he’s got. 

Rhys drums at the steering wheel for a moment, brow furrowed as he thinks.

“You know, I’ve had a lotta relationships, but,” He stops at a red light, and looks at Vaughn, watching how the sunrise illuminates him. “I think this, this one right here. This one’s my favorite. Even if it’s pretend, it’s my favorite. You’re my guy, Vaughn.” 

Vaughn, for once in his life, feels truly, entirely hopeful, and he wouldn’t trade that feeling for anything in the world. They smile at each other, and they keep smiling even when they both have to look forward, the red light blinking to green. Vaughn wants to ask him what he means, he wants to understand, but he thinks he’s okay with the silence this moment holds. 

Rhys knows he likes Vaughn. He may be too scared to say the  _ real  _ word he means to use, but he knows he feels it. He thinks he might just start believing Vaughn feels the same way, too. 

When Vaughn feels like he has to say something, he does.

“Thank you, Rhys. This means a lot to me.” 

“This?” 

“This.” Vaughn gestures to the car, to the window, to him. “Pushing me to visit my family. Come back home. I still feel nervous, and scared, and I still don’t really feel at home,  _ really  _ home, but I’m glad I got to experience it with you.” 

“Me too, buddy.”

“My dad would’ve liked you, I think,” Vaughn tells him, “Or maybe not. It was really hard to tell with him sometimes.”

And then, Rhys laughs, and then it dies out. Rhys has a guilty conscience, and he finally risks ruining everything, because he thinks it’s the right thing to do.

“I told you my dad died, when you told me about yours. I don’t know why I did, really. I mean, I do know why, but I don’t know why I said it to you.” Rhys says. He doesn’t look at Vaughn, and his voice is uneasy and apprehensive.

Vaughn’s not sure he can be mad. There’s a look in Rhys’ eyes that tell a whole lot, things Vaughn shouldn’t know, since it’s none of his business. There’s a lot of hurt in his face, and it makes Vaughn hurt with him.

“I understand,” He says.

Rhys casts him a glance, vulnerable and unexpecting. “Really?” 

“Yeah. I do. Even if it’s different for me, I do.” 

Rhys is just driving in circles at this point. Eventually, he finds a random parking spot at some convenience store, and just sits for a moment.

“Vaughn, I gotta ask something,” He says. 

“Yeah?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about your dad?” 

Vaughn doesn’t know. He really doesn’t. It’s making him hurt just thinking about it. He remembers getting the phone call, and he remembers saying  _ ‘Thank you,’  _ right before hanging up, like he had just scheduled a doctor’s appointment, or something. It was so formal. He hadn’t spoken to his parents since he left for college, and then one day his father was dead. Maybe it hasn’t fully sunk in yet. Maybe he feels like it’s his fault, or that he should’ve been there more. Regardless, Rhys is waiting on an answer, so he gives it.

“I don’t know,” He says, looking like he’s about to cry. It breaks Rhys’ heart. “I didn’t want to bother you.” 

He didn’t cry at his father’s funeral, but when Rhys reaches out and pulls him into an awkward hug, he does, and it hurts to do it. He buries his face into Rhys’ shoulder, like he’s trying to hide in him, and Rhys lets him. He’s felt so, so disconnected, but now it’s finally sinking in. He nearly chokes on the air he’s breathing, but Rhys just holds him, and he’s sure Rhys is crying, too. They hold each other like it’s their last moments together. 

When they part, they both look at each other, faces red and eyes redder, and they smile and laugh, because they both look like complete shit. 

When Rhys can see straight, without the tears blurring his vision, he pulls out of the convenience store and keeps driving towards nowhere specific. He just wants to drive, and Vaughn lets him. 

“My dad, uh,” Rhys makes a turn, so he takes a moment to pause. “He sucked. Sucks. Sometimes I think about changing my last name to my mom’s.” 

Vaughn gives him a look, then imagines that idea. “Rhys Strongfork.” He says. “It sounds kind of dumb, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, Rhys Winz is pretty awesome,” Rhys says, “But, the less I’ve got of my dad, the better.”

“I guess that makes sense. Can I ask about your...childhood?”

Rhys rubs his nose, sniffling. “I was raised in a pretty small apartment in one of the shitty cities of Eden-5. My mom did a lot of work. She was working 24/7, I think her resume’s longer than most books. Oh, oh, I remember when my first boyfriend, I was like...Nine, so it wasn’t really real, but he broke up with me because he said I was too much of a tomboy.” Rhys laughs. “He had no idea.” 

Vaughn finds himself laughing too. “Dating at nine? Is that what kids do?” 

“I mean, he just gave me a coupon he stole from his mom’s purse and said ‘We’re dating now, have this,’ and I was like ‘Yeah, sure,’ so that’s how that happened. Probably didn’t like that I beat him in the pacer test that year.”

“Alright, so you’ve always been an overachiever, and also a freakishly fast runner. Alright.” 

Rhys snorts. “I’m telling you, man. My legs are made for sprinting. It runs in the family. We all got legs for days.”

“Yeah, well, your sprinting legs spend most of the day in an office chair now.” 

“You’re just jealous I can reach the top counters in our apartment, and you can’t,” 

“I may not be able to reach there, but I am at the perfect height to punch you in the gut.” 

Rhys continues laughing, and then he tries to keep talking. “Okay, okay. My childhood. My mom, when she learned I was a boy, thought she’d do me a favor and buy me a bunch of little suits. They were on clearance, and she thought I’d love them. Apparently she remembered that time I made a tiny fake-business with my friends. She was right, I loved them. The kids at school didn’t, but fuck them.” 

“You just wore...business suits to school?”

“What? I looked great. Ask my mom, she has pictures.” 

“Your mom sounds cool,” Vaughn says. 

“She was alright, but that was enough for me. She did the best she could by herself raising a kid like me. As for my dad? Fuck that guy. Total a-hole. I mean, he went on and on about wanting a son, then he gets one and he’s like ‘Nahhhhh,’ like, you got what you wanted, Sam, stop complaining! I am so glad I got most of my looks from my mom. Sam’s kind of ugly.” 

Vaughn snorts. He almost respects Rhys’ ability to stay lighthearted, but at the same time, he feels sorry for Rhys. 

“I’d kill to have a childhood like yours, like, a backyard? A family dog? That’s the dream, right there.” 

They look at each other for a moment, and Vaughn’s not too sure what to say. 

“Sorry. That sounds like I’m jealous.” Maybe Rhys is, on some level, “I’m not. You’ve just got a cool life here.” 

“I was a bit surprised, actually,” Vaughn says. He adjusts his glasses and rubs the back of his neck. “How well you fit into my family, like you just...Belonged. I never felt like that. I always felt like kind of an outsider, especially after my dad died, but you just...Fit in, and everyone loves you. That...Also sounds like I’m jealous. I’m not.” 

Rhys has a conflicted look on his face. He almost has no idea what Vaughn even means by any of that, but after a moment, he gets it. Maybe they were both raised feeling like complete outsiders. They don’t feel like outsiders when they’re together.

“Alright, so we’re both jealous of each other.” Rhys states. He reaches out without looking and puts a hand on Vaughn’s head. 

“I just said I’m not-” 

“It’s fine, bro. I’m a bit proud of you, though, actually talking about it. You know how you like to bottle up your shit.” 

“I don’t do that,” Vaughn pouts, knowing that he absolutely does do that. He hates how well Rhys knows him sometimes.

“I will turn this car around,” Rhys says, putting on a parent-type voice. It makes him laugh. 

Vaughn’s not sure how Rhys could be jealous of his life. After a moment, he gets it, too. 

“I’m glad my family likes you,” Vaughn says. “I don’t know if they could hate anyone, actually.”

Rhys makes a strange sound, thinking back to Veronica. “Yeah, I guess. Your family’s kind of scary, actually.”

“Yeah, they’re like that.” 

The sky is blue, now. Rhys starts heading back. Vaughn rests his head against the window.

When they pull back into the drive-way, they sit there for a moment. 

“Rhys?” Vaughn asks, giving him a particular kind of look. 

Rhys turns to look at Vaughn, giving him a worried kind of look. Rhys wants to lean close to Vaughn, say something romantic, and learn what it’d feel like to kiss him. That’s what he wants to do. It pushes him, like something crawling its way out of his chest, it’s violent and sudden within him, but on the outside, he’s expressionless and slow. He leans into Vaughn, swallowing nothing down, and dragging in a quick breath. He’s had relationships, he’s kissed dozens of people, he’s always been casual and confident, but in this moment, he’s terrified. Vaughn looks at him, and Rhys’ mind has to be playing tricks on him, because he sees  _ hope  _ on Vaughn’s face. That’s what scares him the most, out of anything. His face brushes past Vaughn’s. He reaches out and unlocks Vaughn’s car door. Vaughn lets out a shaking breath, and he lets the devastation sink in. 

“Uh, sorry. I was…”

Rhys doesn’t finish his thought. He leaves the car. Vaughn takes a minute or two to follow him, because he can’t seem to get his legs working. When he finally does get up and follow Rhys, he pretends nothing happened, and so does Rhys. He walks into his house smiling. Rhys wants to kick himself. He wants to punch the wall and scream. Why is he so scared. What is he so scared of? 

Most of Rhys’ time is taken by Vaughn’s sisters, who drag him around the house, begging him to partake in their activities. He can’t say no to their faces, so that’s what he ends up doing for most of the day. Veronica stays in her room, because she’s a night owl. Vaughn trails behind his mother most of the day, because he’s too scared to face Rhys. 

“Have you ever been to Promethea?” Vera asks. Audrey is sitting between her legs as she sits in a small chair, across from Rhys, who looks ridiculous as always sitting in a chair too small for him. 

“Nah. My mom has, though. She says it’s really sucky.” Rhys replies. “But, it has a lot of pretty things to look at.” 

“I’ve always wanted to go. Dolos is super boring. I kinda wanna be a Vault Hunter.”

“Vault Hunter?” Rhys laughs, because this is a long, long time before Vault Hunter is synonymous with  _ ‘Hero’ _ . “Good luck with that. Those guys are nuts.” 

“Yeah, but, they’re so cool!” Vivi says, speaking for Vera. “Fighting against a whole lotta bad guys, finding cool treasure, it’s awesome!”

“Most people who try out Vault Hunting end up with a serious case of dead.” Rhys replies, not feeling the least bit bad about being blunt.

“You sound just like Mama,” Vivi says, playing around with Audrey’s ears. “And everyone at school.”

Rhys suddenly feels bad. He rubs the back of his neck. “C’mon, not everyone, right?”

“School sucks.” Vera says, “Even if I am really, really smart, everyone else just says I’m a dumb nerd.”

“Yeah, well, don’t tell your mom I said this, but fuck them.” Rhys scoots in his seat. “Kids are assholes, especially to people they think are weak. The best thing you can do is outsmart them.” He taps his temple.

Rhys recalls the first time he made a bully cry with just his words. He felt powerful. His mother always said he had a natural silver tongue. He learned he could use that as a weapon.

“All that ‘Never fight back against a bully!’ shit is bullshit. Listen, you’re never too young to start blackmailing your enemies. Sure, you might get a black eye here or there, but, god is the payoff worth it.” 

Vera and Vivi both listen intently. 

“It works. It really works. Especially in the corporate landscape, so, that’s nice if you ever wanna go into that.” Rhys speaks to them like they’re adults. He doesn’t feel bad about telling two ten year olds to blackmail their enemies. He won’t let these two go through what he did. “Dude, even in college, I was dealing with bullies. I was a human shield for Vaughn most of the time.” He snorts. He remembers each time Vaughn would panic over him like a mother hen. 

“You still get bullied now?” Vera asks.

“I mean, now I have a job. Bullies for me are...Corporate executives. But in college? Yeah. I didn’t let it bother me, because I knew I was smarter than them. I still do! Corporate executives are dumber than rocks.”

Vivi fiddles with her hands and bounces her leg impatiently. It reminds Rhys of Vaughn. “You’re really cool, Rhys.” 

“Pssh, me?” Rhys waves her off, but he absolutely appreciates the compliment. “Nah, I’m just a guy.” 

“I think you’re cool, too! I wouldn’t mind if my brother married you.” Vera adds, and Rhys nearly chokes on his own breath.

“Uhm, what?” Rhys gives her a wide-eyed look. Instantly, he feels his face go red. “M-married?” 

“Yeah! I mean, you’re both adults. You can get married.” She says this like she thinks Rhys doesn’t understand. He definitely does.

“I mean, woah, wow, uh,” Rhys stutters, rubbing the back of his neck. “Wow. Married? I mean, maybe? No! Wait, we just got out of college, we’re both young, way too young to be married? But, y’know, if he asked-” Rhys almost slaps himself. He doesn’t shut up. “I would just be fine with it! Y’know, bromance and all. Married? Marriage. Huh. Alright.”

Vivi and Vera both have a hard time following with how fast he’s stumbling over his words. 

“Uh, okay.” Vera says. “You’re weird.”

“I’m not weird!” Rhys snaps, hiding his face behind his hands. “You’re the weird one for bringing up marriage! Who does that! Why would you say that?” 

“I dunno! I’m ten!”

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say any of that,” Rhys says. “Let’s not talk about marrying my best bro, alright?” 

“Yeah, you’re really weird.” Vivi says, her face scrunching up. “I thought you, like, loved him, or something.”

Rhys wants to scream. 

“I do! Wait, no,” Shit, he forgot they were fake-dating. “I do! It’s just,”

There’s so much he could say. 

“Relationships are really, really confusing.” He settles on. “They’re confusing, and I don’t really get them, and feelings are gross and bad and they make me feel like I’m gonna puke, but sometimes they’re good? I’ve dated a lot of people, but it always comes back to him! He’s the one I go home to, he’s my right-hand guy. He’s…”

His everything, he almost says.

“I love him. I love him.” 

“Did you just have some sort of existential crisis?” Vera asks.

“Something like that!” Rhys replies. He just realized he’s sitting with two literal children, who just watched him have a love-induced crisis. He feels like all those emotions he felt in the car doubled. He stands up, and his legs wobble. “Listen, I...Am just going to leave. I’ll be in Vaughn’s room.”

“Oh. Okay.” Vivi says. “Have fun being weird.” 

Rhys can’t formulate a reply as he stumbles out the door. Vivi and Vera look at each other and shrug.

Valerie knows something is wrong with Vaughn, she’s his mother, after all, but she doesn’t pry. At least, not at first. When she’s in the living room, when everyone else is away, she’s watering the plants right by the window, and she gestures to the couch. Vaughn doesn’t quite get it.

“Sit down,” She says. She sets the cup she was using to water the plants down. “I want to talk to you about something.”

Vaughn gulps. He thinks of himself as a teenager again, for a moment. He sits down, holding his hands together in his lap. When she sits next to him, she offers a comforting look.

“Vaughn, you can talk to me about anything.” She says. She puts a hand over his. 

His brow furrows, his eyes squint a bit. “What? I’m fine.” He says. She remains unconvinced, because she isn’t stupid.

“Vaughn, please.” She replies. Her eyes shut for a moment. “Talk to me.” 

Vaughn doesn’t. He looks down.

“If this is about your father-” 

“Mama, stop.” 

“I want you to know-”

“Please.” 

“It’s not your fault.” 

Vaughn finally looks at her. He wears a look of hurt, devastation, fear. It breaks her heart. He didn’t know that’s what he needed to hear. It reopens a lot in him, but sometimes the best way to heal is to scrape off the infection and start over. His hands shake and his lip quivers.

“I know.” He says.

“I know you blame yourself for not being there,” She replies. “I know you wish you had more time with him, and you hate that you didn’t get that, I know. Vaughn, you’re still family. You’re still my son. I don’t blame you.” 

Vaughn takes his glasses off and wipes at his eyes. He feels like a child. She holds him in her arms and lets him cry.

“I felt like you guys hated me for not being there. For not staying after the funeral.” 

She rubs his head in a soothing kind of way. “No, no, baby. None of us hate you. He doesn’t hate you, either.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“You don’t have to be sorry.” 

Vaughn, after a moment, wraps his arms around Valerie. He feels like a complete child, but he lets himself be okay with that. He wishes he told his father everything. He wishes he told his father he was gay, that there was a reason he never had a girlfriend, or that him and Zach were something more than just friends. There’s a lot he wishes he got to do.

“You just have to do what makes you happy,” Valerie says, as if she read Vaughn’s mind. “Keep living your life. That’s what Victor would’ve wanted.” 

Vaughn nods silently.

“I love Rhys, Mama. That’s what I want to do. I want to love him.” He says it so quietly, broken up and hoarse. 

“You’re dating him, aren’t you?” She asks, matching his quiet tone.

“No, Mama. I lied.” He shakes his head. Finally, Valerie understands. She kisses the top of his head. He shakes in her arms. 

“I’m not upset. You deserve the world, baby.” She says. 

“I think Rhys is my world.”

It feels weird saying it out loud. He feels sick and free and alive and dead and everything all at once. He grew up feeling wrong. He grew up feeling like he had to keep his love a secret. 

“Oh, Vaughn.” She wants to cry. She adjusts her small round glasses, and nods. “Then go love him. You deserve to love, and feel loved. I’m sorry you felt otherwise. I’m so sorry if we raised you to think that way.” 

Dolos is outdated in a lot of ways, not just technologically. Vaughn squeezes his eyes shut and nods. Valerie only holds him tighter. 

“I’m scared. What if he doesn’t love me back, or what if I ruin our friendship.”

“Sometimes you just have to risk it all. Take a chance.” She says. “Either he doesn’t love you, or he does. I promise you you’ll feel so much better when you find out, I promise you.”

“Okay, Mama.” 

She holds him as long as he needs it, and when he finally feels brave enough, he sits back up. He puts his glasses back on and he manages a smile. He feels like he belongs in his own home, for the first time in his life, he feels at home with his family. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever come to the point where he doesn’t feel at least a little bit estranged from his family. He realizes, looking at Valerie, that she understands that too. At that moment, they’re both okay with that. They both look out the window for a moment, and look at the sunset together.

“I’m so proud of you,” Valerie says. She puts a hand on Vaughn’s cheek for a moment. “So, so proud.”

“Thank you, Mama.”

“I think you should go find Rhys.” She advises. “You don’t have to at this moment, if you don’t want to, but I think you should.”

So, he does. He looks at himself in the mirror in the hallway, just to check his eyes for a moment.

“Have you seen Rhys?” He asks his sisters. 

“He went to, uh, your room.” Vera says. Vivi nods.

“Thanks.” Vaughn replies. He ducks his head out, but then returns. His gaze wanders for a bit as he tries to find his words, but when he does, he looks back at them. “I love you, guys. I know I don’t say that enough, but I do. Even if you two are little jerks, sometimes.”

“Ew,” Vivi says, grinning and holding her hands over her mouth. “Don’t say that, that’s weird.”

“Thanks, Vaughn.” Vera says, and then she giggles. “Even if you’re a big jerk, sometimes.”

He breathes a sigh of relief and leaves. He almost runs to his room, desperate and rushed. His heart is beating so hard he can hear it in his ears, and it’s deafening. Regardless, he knows he can’t stop now. 

When he opens the door, Rhys is sitting on the bed. When they look at each other, they both feel equal parts terror and equal parts peace. There’s a lot they can say, but they settle on a hello first.

“Hey,” Vaughn says, shutting the door behind him.

“Hey.” Rhys replies. 

“I was thinking...we can skip playing rock-paper-scissors for the bed tonight.” Rhys says, and then he sucks in a sharp breath. “Also, my back really hurts.”

“Oh.” Vaughn takes a step forward. “Okay.” 

“You’re okay with that?”

“Yeah.” 

Neither of them undress, or change. They just meet each other on the bed. The silence is deafening. Vaughn’s heart is racing, and so is Rhys’. The bed creaks under both of their weights. Rhys’ hair is styled in such a way where Vaughn can see his eyes,  _ really  _ see them. They’re bright and wide and they make Vaughn’s stomach churn. Rhys’ lips part slightly, like he’s about to start speaking, but nothing comes to mind. Vaughn can feel Rhys’ breath on him, his shaking, shuddering breath. Rhys’ gaze moves, like he’s searching for something, anything, but it comes back to Vaughn’s eyes. 

“Vaughn,” He says, his throat hoarse. “That story I told, about how we started dating. The one I told your family.”

“Yeah?” 

“I- That’s…” He feels his heart in his throat. He swallows it down. “That’s what I wanted to happen, Vaughn. If I wasn’t such a wimp. That’s what I wanted to happen.” 

Vaughn’s hand inches closer to Rhys’, and their pinky fingers intertwine. They don’t dare take their eyes off each other.

“That’s what I would’ve wanted, too. If I had known. I didn’t know.” 

“You know now.” 

“Yeah, I do.”

Rhys moves a little closer to Vaughn, and Vaughn moves a little closer to Rhys.

“Can I kiss you?” Rhys asks. Vaughn feels something in him break. He nods weakly.

Rhys moves apprehensively, nervously. He positions himself over Vaughn, an arm holding him up, and then he presses his lips to Vaughn’s, barely grazing them. His chest wants to burst, he wants to speak, but he doesn’t. He closes his eyes and pushes further, tilting his head to the side as he kisses Vaughn. His other hand goes to rest on Vaughn’s chest, barely grasping the fabric of his shirt. Vaughn wasn’t prepared for this. He didn’t know a kiss could feel like a crashing wave. It washes over him, and he shudders under Rhys. His eyes shut, and he reaches a hand up to card through Rhys’ hair. It makes Rhys sigh in a pleasant kind of way. They both want to cry. The kiss feels too short, and like it lasts for an eternity. When they part, their eyes slide back open, unfocused and hazey. They look at each other.

“Rhys, I’m..” Vaughn stutters. His voice is hushed. “I’ve never done this before.” 

“That’s okay,” Rhys says it like he’s never been more sure of anything in his life. He reaches down and takes Vaughn’s hand into his own. “Fuck, Vaughn, I don’t care. As long as it’s you, I don’t care.” 

“You’re sure?” Vaughn asks, as if Rhys could ever be unsure about this.

Rhys replies by kissing Vaughn again, more confident this time. Vaughn is so careful, so scared that he’ll wake up and this’ll just be a dream, scared that if he moves a certain way, he’ll shatter. Vaughn sits up and wraps his arms around Rhys’ neck, and Rhys leans forward, placing a hand on Vaughn’s cheek. Vaughn’s goatee tickles Rhys’ chin, and Rhys’ overeagerness is making their noses bump too much, but neither of them care. It’s perfect. Rhys knows he’d be able to do anything in the world, just as long as Vaughn’s by his side, he could do it. The thought of the word  _ ‘Boyfriend’  _ makes him feel giddy. 

After a moment or two, Rhys parts. He leans his head on Vaughn’s shoulder and his arms wrap around him. He doesn’t know what to do, how to continue. He’s never felt so confused. Maybe that’s okay, because Vaughn is just as scared as he is. They’re both so, so nervous. They lean into each other, and Rhys finds himself repositioning into Vaughn’s lap, his legs on either side of Vaughn’s hips. His eyes squeeze shut, and he lets out a long breath. Vaughn’s fingers grip Rhys’ shirt tighter, and his eyes sting. He wants to say something, but he finds that he enjoys the silence. When Rhys lifts his head back up, he looks at Vaughn and smiles in a lopsided kind of way, and Vaughn knows for sure he’s in love. Rhys lets himself fall to the side, back down onto the bed, and Vaughn follows him down. Their hands find each other again, and they smile at each other. Vaughn feels like everything’s going to be okay.

“I think you’re my favorite person, Rhys,” Vaughn admits. 

“I think you’re my favorite, too.” Rhys answers, and then they kiss each other again, and again, and again. 

Rhys recalls when he and Vaughn first met. He remembers how high-pitched and squeaky his voice was at the time, but Vaughn didn’t care about that. He remembers when he first stood up for Vaughn, when a jock who probably thought he was still in high school shoved Vaughn’s books out of his arms. He’ll never forget Vaughn’s face when Rhys got into the face of that jock and told him to lay off, followed by immediately getting punched so hard he fell to the ground. He remembers laughing, when the jock stormed off. He laughed, and Vaughn almost cried. That was the day Vaughn first considered Rhys a friend, because friends always stand by each other, even if it’s stupid to do so. Rhys would do it again without a second thought. 

They fall asleep together, and they hold each other close.

In the last couple days on Dolos, Vaughn lets himself enjoy it. He lets himself be okay with missing it once he leaves. Vaughn and Rhys hold each other’s hands under the table at dinner, and they lean against each other on the couch. Vaughn still doesn’t quite feel ready for this type of relationship, calling Rhys  _ ‘Boyfriend’, _ but that’s okay with Rhys. He’ll wait for him. He’ll wait as long as it takes. Valerie can see the newfound brightness in Vaughn’s eyes, and it makes her feel like he’s going to be okay, and that’s okay with her. 

On the day they leave, Vivi and Vera cling to Rhys’ legs, acting more like toddlers than kids, and Rhys puts a hand on both of their heads.

“Hey, hey, hey,” He says in a comforting kind of voice, “It’s fine. I’m not disappearing forever. I’ll be back…” He looks at Vaughn for an answer.

“Probably next Mercenary Day break?” Vaughn answers, and Rhys nods.

“Yeah, then. So don’t worry, alright?”

Valerie holds Vaughn close for a moment, pressing a kiss to his cheek, and Vaughn groans.

“You stay safe up there in space, Vaughn.” She coos.

“I will, Mama. Thanks.” He says. He rubs his cheek.

“And be sure to stay in contact,” Veronica says, “Or I’ll throw my shoe at you.” 

Vaughn laughs, but in a sort of way where he absolutely knows she would. 

When Rhys hugs Valerie goodbye, he lifts her off her feet for a moment, and she gasps in response, just as surprised as Vaughn is watching it. 

“You too, Rhys. Stay safe.” She says. Rhys gives her a lopsided smile.

“Where’s the fun in that?” He replies, that smile graduating to a grin. “Thanks, Ma’am.” 

“We’ll miss you,” Vera says. She hugs Vaughn, and he ruffles her head. 

“I’ll miss you too, you parasite. You too, Vivi.” 

Vivi sticks her tongue out at Vaughn, and he just laughs. 

Audrey looks up at Vaughn with sad eyes, and Vaughn can only get down on his knees and scoop her up into his arms. She lets out a content sigh, and he scratches her behind the ear. He recalls when she was just a puppy, and he could hold her in one arm. 

When they walk out the door with their luggage, Rhys throws an arm over Vaughn’s shoulder and squeezes him close. 

As they drive back to the spaceport, they can’t help but look at each other and smile, just as bright as the sunrise behind them, Rhys reaches out and puts a hand over Vaughn’s, and knows he won’t let go anytime soon. It doesn’t matter if they’re on Dolos, or back on Helios, as long as they’re together, Rhys and Vaughn are okay. No matter what, they’ll be okay. It’ll be a long time before Rhys starts trying to blend in with the rest of the crowd, and it’ll be a long time before Rhys steals a vault key deal, and it’ll be a long time before Vaughn’s family believes he dies in Helios. That’s a story for another day.


End file.
